Life table of Tomicus piniperda (L.) (Col., Scolytidae) and its analysis

AbstractA life table was developed for the pine shoot beetle, Tomicus piniperda (L.), on the basis of two consecutive years of field research in Kunming, China. Based on the analysis of the life table, intraspecific larval competition, pine resin, parasitoids, predators and the other unknown factors composed the main factors affecting insect mortality. Among them the intraspecific larval competition contributed to highly proportional mortality of the population, approximately 39.85%, and was supposed to be a major factor determining productivity of the insect. The second highest proportional mortality, around 20.59%, was attributed to pine resin. The percentage of unknown mortality was 13.37%, in which temperature and humidity as well as forest hygiene were involved. For different stages the larval mortality of 52.38% was the highest compared with others, and therefore played the greatest role in the population mortality process. The mortality rate for the adult, egg and pupa was 15.5%, 5.8% and 2.7%, respectively. The generation mortality rate of 78.24% indicated a increasing population in Kunming over the study years