Occurrence of Leaf Miners Phyllonorycter populifoliella on Different Species of Poplars

• Published in: Entomological review 2020-06, Vol.100 (3), p.301
• Main Authors: Selikhovkin, A. V, Egorov, A. A, Sitnikova, D. D, Mamaev, N. A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0013-8738
• DOI: 10.1134/S0013873820030033

The occurrence of leafminers of the genus Phyllonorycter (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) developing on various poplar species was studied in different geographic regions of Russia: St. Petersburg, Barnaul, Bryansk and Bryansk Province. The test plots in St. Petersburg contained only the Berlin poplar Populus xberolinensis K. Koch; those in Barnaul contained hybrids combining the features of P. nigra, P. balsamifera, and P. laurifolia (except a single specimen of the black poplar P. nigra L.); those in Bryansk and Bryansk Province contained Populus xberolinensis, P. nigra, and the Chinese poplar P. simonii Carrière. The poplar leafminer Phyllonorycter populifoliella (Treitschke, 1833) was found in all the regions, where it infested all the above poplar species. The willow leafminer Phyllonorycter pastorella (Zeller, 1846) was present in Bryansk and Bryansk Province only on P. nigra and was recorded together with Ph. populifoliella. Our data are consistent with the previously published records of the occurrence of Ph. populifoliella and Ph. pastorella. We conclude that the occurrence and composition of the Phyllonorycter species complex are largely determined by the species composition of the poplar stands and, possibly, the history of its formation.