Evaluating Host Resistance to the White-Pine Weevil, Pissodes strobi, (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Using Feeding Preference Tests1

Results of experiments in which white-pine weevils, Pissodes strobi (Peck), were caged on cut leaders show that weevils are capable of distinguishing and expressing feeding preferences among three of their host species—eastern white pine, jack pine, and red pine—very similar to patterns observed in the field. There was no difference in amount of feeding on eastern white pine or western white pine, or between two classes based on past weeviling, despite a large difference in susceptibility. In none of the 4 species was amount of feeding correlated with any of the morphological features which were measured at 10 in. from the base of the terminal bud.