Abstract
At any temperature tested, developmentel rate was higher in Bursaphelenchus lignicolus, a causal agent of pine wilting disease, than in B. mucronatus having no pathogenicity to pine trees, at both embryonic and post embryonic stages when reared on Botrytis cinerea fungi. No significant difference was observed between the ratios of males in adult populations of these two Bursaphelenchus species at moderate temperatures. The population growth rate of B. lignicolus was higher at all temperatures tested than that of B. mucronatus, while the saturation density was higher in the latter than in the former. The higher reproductive rate in B. lignicolus than in B. mucronatus might be attributed partly to the higher developmental rate.
