position of P. approximatus and P. nemorensis (Germar), discussed later, remains 
unclear. With the use of multiple discriminant analysis, these two species and P. 
strobi can be separated on the basis of external morphology (490). 
Winter may be spent in the larval, pupal, or adult stage, but most overwinter as 
adults in the duff and topsoil beneath infested trees. Occasionally, they may be 
found under scales or in the crevices of the bark of these trees. In the spring the 
weevils leave their hibernation sites and feed for several weeks on the inner bark of 
pine branches and on the stems of seedlings and small trees. Individuals that 
overwinter as larvae and pupae complete their development and emerge as adults in 
July and August. 
The insect breeds beneath the surface of the bark on recently cut stumps and logs, 
and on the main stems or branches of dead or dying trees. Attacks occur on the tree 
from the roots up to branches as small as | cm in diameter. Attacks also occur at the 
root collar and on the lower stems of apparently healthy young trees. Eggs are 
deposited in pockets chewed through the bark by the female. 
A pocket usually contains only one egg, but as many as five can be found. A 
larva may feed in any direction from the site of the egg, but usually follows the 
grain of the wood. Larvae pupate in chip cocoons usually on the surface of the wood 
but the chamber can be | to 2 cm below the surface. 
Damage is often severe in regions where there are large quantities of breeding 
material, such as fresh stumps in Christmas tree plantations and in stands under 
intensive management. Because of the scarcity of breeding material in natural pine 
stands, damage there is of little consequence. Damage in nurseries and plantations 
can be reduced by destroying breeding sites or rendering them unsuitable for egg 
laying (420). 
The deodar weevil, P. nemorensis Germar, occurs in the Southern States north to 
Pennsylvania, and breeds in the true cedars, deodar cedar, Atlas cedar, cedar of 
Lebanon, and some pines, notably loblolly, shortleaf, and longleaf. The adult (fig. 
152) is similar to P. approximatus and can be distinguished by discriminant 
analysis (490). Damage is of three principal kinds—feeding on young shoots of the 
crown in sapling and pole-size trees, terminal killing by both adults and larvae, and 
branch-end flagging on pole-size and small saw-log-size trees. Attacks have been 
made directly on boles of trees 6 to 12 m tall, which killed the trees (948, 952). 
4 
Courtesy Duke Univ. Sch. For. 
Figure 152.—Adult of the deodar weevil, Pissodes 
nemorensis. 
330 
