ARE DIFFERENCES IN LIFE-HISTORY PARAMETERS OF THE PINE BEAUTY MOTH PANOLIS-FLAMMEA MODIFIED BY HOST-PLANT QUALITY OR GENDER

Pine beauty moth (Panolis flammea D&S, Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) were re ared individually from egg hatch to pupation on one of three host plan ts, Pinus sylvestris (native host plant), Pinus contorta (Central Inte rior seed origin - good quality introduced host) and P. contorta (Alas kan seed origin - poor quality introduced host). After emerging from t he pupae the adult moths were confined to a Skeena River seed origin o f P. contorta. Female pupal weight and adult life span were significan tly higher on P. sylvestris than on the two lodgepole pine seed origin s. Development time was, however, not significantly different between treatments, but larval mean relative growth rate was found to be negat ively correlated with birth weight and positively correlated with pupa l weight. The time to emerge from the pupa was also not significantly different between treatments. However, there were marked differences b etween the genders. Male moths lost a significantly greater proportion of their weight over the pupal stage but lived significantly longer a s adults than the females. Female moths emerged from the pupal stage s ignificantly sooner than male moths. There was no apparent advantage o f lai-ge birth size when looked at in terms of subsequent performance. These results are discussed in light of current life history theory.