Efficacy of Artificial Traps to Prevent the Damage of Conifer Seedlings by large Pine Weevil (Hylobius abietis L.) – A Preliminary Study

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted within two fresh clear-cutting areas to assess the efficacy of conifer seedling protection against the pine weevil attack by insect mass-trapping, using pitfall traps baited with alpha pinene and ethanol. The research was conducted in two areas, Valea Putnei (VP) and Şimoneac (SIM), located in the northern part of Romanian Eastern Carpathians. A block of 6x4 traps, spaced at 14 m of each other, was set up in VP, and another block of 6x5 traps, spaced at 10 m of each other, was set up in SIM. There were five control plots in each area (of 40 m² in VP, and 70 m² in SIM). Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) seedlings, 3-4 yr-old, 5000 per hectare, were planted in the experimental plots. Weevil-caused damages and mortality were assessed at the end of the growing season. The traps caught on average 215.9 ± 20.0 and 104.3 ± 10.0 weevils/traps in VP and SIM, respectively. Large mass-trapping of the large pine weevil on fresh clear-cutting areas was unable to protect the planted seedlings even using a high number of artificial traps per unit area (100 traps/ha).