A model for the timing of swarming of Tomicus piniperda (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

• Published in: Ecography
• Main Author: Saarenmaa, Hannu
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1989
• Subjects: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Norway; Fennoscandia; Northern Finland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.1989.tb00920.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1600-0587.1989.tb00920.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1600-0587.1989.tb00920.x

Tomicus piniperda is the first bark beetle to swarm in the spring in Fennoscandia. The intensity of swarming is directly related to air temperature above a certain threshold and reaches 100% asymptotically. While temperature sums above the threshold accumulate, swarming rate slows down. A non‐linear model was built on these considerations. The model was calibrated to window trap material from northern Finland, and it was validated against published material mainly from Norway. The threshold temperatures in these materials were 10.8°C and 11.6°C, respectively. The predictions of the model were satisfactory, and the model will be tried as a part of an entire population dynamics model. The possibilities to predict not only timing, but also the frequency of attack are discussed.