Pheromone monitoring of xylophage insects of Picea abies (L.) Karst.

Xylophagous insects can inflict significant damage to forests by causing trees to dry out. Pheromone monitoring allows detecting the appearance of these pests in time and taking measures to control them. The purpose of the study was to determine the sanitary state of spruce stands and pheromone monitoring of xylophage insect populations. The degree of damage to the spruce plantation was determined in accordance with the scale of sanitary state indices as a weighted average value of the assessment of the distribution of trees of different categories of condition. Based on the results of accounting on the test areas, the sanitary state index (average category) of the spruce stand was calculated, it was found that the most vulnerable to pathological factors were trees in the smallest (8, 12, and 16 cm, respectively) and the largest (44 cm) diameter class. The use of pheromone monitoring to assess the state of forest stands was aimed at identifying the presence of harmful organisms in a certain territory, determining their species composition, abundance, and development dynamics. In the forest area where the pheromone survey was carried out, insects were found and identified, including the sharp-dentated bark beetle Ips acuminatus, European spruce bark beetle Ips typographus, spruce wood engraver Pityogenes chalcographus, synanthropic species of depressed flour beetle Palorus depressus, and the predatory ant beetle Thanasimus formicarius. The largest number of individuals in traps was recorded in the European spruce bark beetle during the entire observation period, where from 10 to 15 individuals were caught for each trap, as well as in a synanthropic species Palorus depressus. The potential reproduction opportunities of xylophage insect populations are analyzed, and the population of Ips typographus has the highest settlement density, the number of beetles of the younger generation or the production of stem pests of which averaged 34 holes per 1 dm-2. Despite the low density of the settlement, Pityogenes chalcographus has the ability to attack almost healthy trees and forms continuous mass populations in the surveyed plantings together with the European spruce bark beetle. The results obtained will be useful for monitoring and controlling pests, which will allow timely detection and assessment of the level of threat to forest stands