Host Trees and Breeding Sites of Native North American Pissodes Bark Weevils, with a Note on Synonymy1, 2

Abstract

Adults of the lodgepole terminal weevil, Pissodes terininalis Hopping, and 20 of the 30 “species” named orrecognized by Hopkins were reared out from host-conifer material positively identified by the donors. Tested cytologically and/or by crossbreeding for consanguinity (largely unpublished work), they reduce to 11 biologically acceptable species. Of the 31 host species listed for theoriginal 21 taxons of Pissodes, 18 were verified, Hopkins' 5 guesses as to genus were substantiated, and 45 new hosttaxon associations are here established. The last-mentioned include 2 new genera, Larix and Tsuga. It was demonstrated that, with host species and breeding site known, reliable identification of Pissodes to species and ecotype presents only minimal difficulty and, then, solely for those with marginal areas of overlapping distribution.