Xylosandrus crassiusculus | |
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Larvae of the granulate ambrosia beetle | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Infraorder: | Cucujiformia |
Family: | Curculionidae |
Genus: | Xylosandrus |
Species: | X. crassiusculus |
Binomial name | |
Xylosandrus crassiusculus (Motschulsky, 1866) | |
Synonyms | |
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Xylosandrus crassiusculus, known generally as the Asian ambrosia beetle or granulate ambrosia beetle, is a species of tropical bark beetle in the family Curculionidae. [1] [2] [3] [4] It is native to Asia and has spread to Africa, Europe, Australasia and the Americas. The adult beetle is reddish-brown and some 2 to 3 mm (0.08 to 0.12 in) long. [5]
This beetle is native to Asia, and has spread to other parts of the world as an invasive species in Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania. [5] It was first reported in the southeastern United States in 1974, had reached Costa Rica by 1996, Panama by 2003, and Guatemala and northern Brazil by 2008. It appeared in Argentina in 2001, nearly a decade before it was detected in southern Brazil and Uruguay; as the latter two countries were vigilant, with long-term trapping programmes, the Argentine collection may represent a direct introduction from a non-American source, with the insects later spreading northwards up the coast. [6]
Females mate with their siblings before leaving the galleries. Although males are flightless, females can fly and disperse to other potential host trees. Here they excavate tunnels and lay eggs. The larvae develop and enlarge the galleries and the female stays with the brood, overwintering there. [5]
Although the larvae of ambrosia beetles develop in cavities in wood, the food of both adults and larvae is exclusively a symbiotic fungus which the female beetle introduces into the tunnels and galleries she excavates. In the case of Xylosandrus crassiusculus, the fungus has been identified as Ambrosiella roeperi . It has been shown that the beetle is attracted to the smell of this fungus, which may concentrate attacks on specific trees. The beetle can infest branches as small as 1.5 cm (0.6 in) across and trunks 2.5 to 6 cm (1.0 to 2.4 in) in diameter. [5]
This beetle is polyphagous, infesting many species of host trees. [7] It is usually restricted to stressed young trees and nursery stock, but sometimes attacks apparently healthy young trees. It additionally infests stacked timber, where it causes economic damage. [6] In the United States, trees and shrubs infested include oak, cherry and crape myrtle, as well as pecan, peach, plum, persimmon, elm, sweet gum, magnolia, fig, buckeye and sweet potato. [8] In Europe its host is the carob (Ceratonia siliqua), while in Israel, where the carob grows, its only known host is the Palestine oak (Quercus calliprinos). [5]
Kakum National Park, located in the coastal environs of the Central Region of Ghana, covers an area of 375 square kilometres (145 sq mi). Established in 1931 as a reserve, it was gazetted as a national park only in 1992 after an initial survey of avifauna was conducted. The area is covered with tropical forest. The uniqueness of this park lies in the fact that it was established at the initiative of the local people and not by the State Department of wildlife who are responsible for wildlife preservation in Ghana. It is one of only 3 locations in Africa with a canopy walkway, which is 350 metres (1,150 ft) long and connects seven tree tops which provides access to the forest.
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Northern Zanzibar–Inhambane coastal forest mosaic, also known as the Northern Swahili coastal forests and woodlands, is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of coastal East Africa. The ecoregion includes a variety of habitats, including forest, savanna and swamps.
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Xylosandrus morigerus, is a species of weevil widespread throughout Afrotropical, Australian, Neotropical, Oceania and Oriental regions. It is also introduced to Palearctic regional countries.
Xyleborus perforans, commonly known as island pinhole borer, is a species of weevil native in the Oriental region through to Australia but shows a cosmopolitan distribution due to introduction to many parts of the world.