INFLUENCE OF BLUESTAIN FUNGI ON LABORATORY REARING OF PINEWOOD NEMATODE INFESTED BEETLES

This study compared the number of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus carried b y Monochamus carolinensis beetles which developed in fungus-inoculated and non-inoculated pine bolts. Beetles that emerged from pine bolts i noculated with the bluestain fungus Ophiostoma minus carried a greater mean number (8198) of B. xylophilus dauer juveniles than beetles that emerged from non-fungal bolts (5570). Nematode density was higher in the fungal bolts than in the control bolts but the difference was not significant. The proportion of emerged beetles that carried nematodes was not dependent on inoculation treatment. Fungal inoculation did not affect the number of days required for beetle development from ovipos ition to adult emergence. The method used for the laboratory culture o f B. xylophilus infested beetles in this study allows for laboratory p roduction of beetles suitable for use in studies on the interspecific association between B. xylophilus and its vectors in the genus Monocha mus.