Abstract:

Korean pine plantations in Heilongjiang Province were severely damaged by some species of Dioryctria (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). These species have similar feature and characteristics so that they were easy to be confounded. To clarify biological and ecological characteristics as well as the damage of these species, we carried out an investigation combined with laboratory experiments for identifying them. It was found that there mainly were two species, i.e. D. sylvestrella and D. abietella attacking Korean pine cone. The detailed biological, ecological and damage characteristics of the sibling species were described. The result showed that only one larve of D. sylvestrella was usually in one cone, and the larva could transfer from a cone to a twig for further damage, and the attacked cones produced much more turpentine without rotting. However, one cone was attacked by several larvae of D. abietella, and the larvae did not transfer from cone to twig for futher damage, and the damaged cones by the species were usually rotten.

Key words: cone worms, Dioryctria sylvestrella, Dioryctria abietella, Pinus koraiensis