Trophic specialization of the poplar leafminer Phyllonorycter populifoliella (Treitschke, 1833) (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae)
Forage plants of the poplar leaf-miner, Phyllonorycter populifoliella (Tr.) (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) were studied. The miner develops on 12 species of the genus Populus L. ( P. alba , P. balsamifera , P. deltoides , P. koreana , P. laurifolia , P. maximowiczii , P. nigra , P. pseudosimonii , P. simonii , P. suaveolens , P. talassica and P. tremula ) of the family Salicaceae ; i. e., it is a narrow oligophage. Feeding on leaves of the representatives of the genus Salix results in the death of the miner caterpillars. The resistance of poplars to the miner decreases in the series: Populus ( P. alba , P. tremula ) - Aigeiros ( P. nigra , P. deltoides ) - Tacamahaca ( P. balsamifera , P. koreana , P. laurifolia , P. maximowiczii , P. suaveolens ). Ecological consequences of chronic defoliation of poplar by the miner are shown.