Phenology of Lymantria monacha (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) Laboratory Reared on Spruce Foliage or a Newly Developed Artificial Diet

Lymantriamonacha (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) is aEurasianpest of conifers that has potential for accidental introduction intoNorthAmerica. The phenology over the entire life cycle for L. monacha individuals from the Czech Republic was compared on Picea glauca (Moench) Voss (white spruce) and a newly developed artiÞcial diet. Individuals reared on the artiÞcial diet had lower larvalmortality, slightlyhigherpupalmortality, developed faster, themajority of femaleswent through one less instar, and adults weighed slightly more than those reared on the spruce foliage. Individuals reared on the spruce foliage survived and developed at rates similar to those documented in previous studies on preferred hosts. The host-free rearing methods and artiÞcial diet presented here will allow L. monacha to be mass reared year round to aid in the advance of bioassay-based research aimed at preventing introductions and eradicating this pest if it should become established in parts of theworld outside itsnative range.Thephenologydocumentedhere suggests thatmanagers canexpect the timing of peak second instars for L.monacha to occur later than that for gypsy moths, Lymantria dispar (L.), and the timing ofmale ßight to occur earlier than that of gypsymoth, if both species hatch at the same time and develop under the same environmental conditions.