The role of phenotype structure in the population dynamics of gypsy moth in the Lower Dnieper region

Abstract

One of the characteristic features of the gypsy moth population in the Lower Dnieper area is its variable larval coloring. Phenotype frequency has been recorded over the years in separate micropopulations at different density levels. The data show the population to consist mainly of gray larvae in all life stages, and their abundance varying from 85 to 99.6 percent. Larvae with a black stripe along the back (black type) range from 0.4 to 15 percent of the population. Depending on the phase of population gradation, the phenotype concentrations in a population can vary. At high and low density levels, black stripe larvae are very rare and make up only 0.4 to 1 percent of the population, while at the onset of population growth, their relative quantity rises up to 15 percent.

Parent Publication

• Forest Insect Guilds: Patterns of Interaction with Host Trees

Citation

Derevyanko, Nikolaj M. 1991. The role of phenotype structure in the population dynamics of gypsy moth in the Lower Dnieper region. In: Baranchikov, Yuri N.; Mattson, William J.; Hain, Fred P.; Payne, Thomas L., eds. Forest Insect Guilds: Patterns of Interaction with Host Trees; 1989 August 13-17; Abakan, Siberia, U.S.S.R. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-153. Radnor, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station: 217-218.