Weevils Widely Scattered Through Pine Forests

In young lodgepole pine plantations of central British Columbia, Warren root collar weevils attacked anywhere from 10 to 45 percent of saplings. The weevils target taller trees in stands under 10 years old, afflicting over 40 percent of trees above 1.5 meters in height.

While the insects do not often kill larger trees, their damage to tree phloem tissue can hinder growth enough to cause concern about the productivity of infested plantations.

Weevil larvae can girdle smaller trees, causing death during the two years they feed on a root collar. Pine mortality at the Sub-boreal Spruce biogeoclimatic zone sites examined was typically 10 to 17 percent of attacked trees, amounting to less than 5 percent of trees in a stand.

All lodgepole pines in a young plantation are vulnerable to attack, as Warren root collar weevils don't concentrate in clumps of trees. Trees killed by the weevil are also distributed randomly throughout the stands. The Warren root collar weevil is a common pest of several BC conifers, infesting at least 19 percent of lodgepole pine forests.