Pissodes strobi | |
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Two adult Pissodes strobi | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Family: | Curculionidae |
Genus: | Pissodes |
Species: | P. strobi
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Binomial name | |
Pissodes strobi W. D. Peck, 1817
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Pissodes strobi, known as the white pine weevil or Engelmann spruce weevil, is the primary weevil attacking and destroying white pines. It was described in 1817 by William Dandridge Peck, professor of natural history and botany at Harvard University. The weevil is dark brown with white spots and is native to North America.[1]
The eggs are laid inside a tree, usually white pine, Sitka spruce, white spruce, Engelmann spruce, or other pine or spruce, and the offspring feed on this tree until the host is killed.[1] Terminals or shoots, as well as needles from pine or spruce, is what the diet of adult white pine weevils consists of.[2]