The pine wood nematode needs a vector to be transferred to pine trees. In countries, where Bursaphelenchus xylophilus occurs, Monochamus spp. plays the most important role as vector of the nematode. Therefore specific knowledge of the distribution and biology of various Monochamus species is important to improve control measures and indicate risk areas for possible epidemic spread of PWN. Within the context of the EU-Project "PHRAME" M. galloprovincialis pistor, M. sutor and M. sartor were collected in different areas of Austria, cultured and reared in the lab. Lifespan and maturation feeding were studied for all three Monochamus species. Maturation feeding took place for the entire llfe span of all three Monochamus species with decreasing intensity. Beetles emerged from late May tili September and survived up to 96 days in the lab. It shows that Monochamus spp. is able to vector PNW tili late October. This could be one explanation, why a certain amount of infected trees in Portugal show no symptoms tili the following summer. It also means that it is not enough to carry out monitoring only during a certain period of the year. Tests with M. galloprovincialis pistor concerning the diameter of breeding material indicated that 6 - 8 cm in diameter, followed by 9 - 12 cm in diameter was the preferred dimension. Further investigations also showed the possibility of a one or two-year-development-cycle for M. galloprovincialis pistor, which could have influence on future control measures of the PWN-vector.
