On the consumption rate of Neodiprion sertifer - A reply to a comment by F. Slansky Jr.

As an answer to a comment by Slansky (Oecologia (Berl) 46 (1980) 133-134) on a recent statement by the present authors (Oecologia (Berl) 43 (1979) 157-172), it is maintained that an evaluation of the relative consumption rate (RCR) of N. sertifer must be made in relation to other tree-feeding herbivores, not to herb-feeders. The average value of available RCR estimates for tree-feeders is 1.3 mg/mg/day compared to 1.9 mg/mg/day for N. sertifer. Thus, we still maintain that N. sertifer has a high consumption rate.