The New Year and Christmas holidays have come to an end. The Department of Supervision and Forecasting continues the laboratory analysis of the overwintering stock of cocoons of the common pine sawfly (Diprion pini L.) after cold stratification under conditions as close to natural as possible. As the pest gradually accumulates effective temperatures, our forest pathologist technician, Alona Batulina, conducts familiar manipulations with samples sent from the Izyum Forestry Enterprise of the Kharkiv Regional Forestry and Hunting Management – distributing cocoons by viability and sex characteristics.

Among the biotic factors capable of regulating the number of diapause larvae in the forest litter, mycotic diseases and parasitic insects from the Ichneumonidae family have been identified.

Leading forest pathologist engineer Danylo Omelich analyzes and processes the indicators obtained during the laboratory study of forest pathological material collected in the outbreak of Diprion pini L. mass reproduction. The outbreak was recorded in September 2017 in the pine forests of Izyum Forestry Enterprise.

Based on the laboratory analysis results, conclusions will be drawn about the viability of Diprion pini L. larvae, the impact of biotic factors, the threat of plantation damage due to the overwintering stock, and the likelihood of reactivation in the spring generation.