Distribution, Habitat Preference, and Management of the Invasive Ambrosia Beetle Xylosandrus germanus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) in European Forests with Emphasis on the West Carpathians

Abstract

The black timber bark beetle Xylosandrus germanus (Blandford) is an invasive ambrosia beetle originating from Southeastern Asia that has become successfully established within Europe and North America. Herein, we provide a review of the spread and distribution of this pest of trees and timber across Europe before and after 2000, along with a review of its habitat preferences. Since the spread of X. germanus across Europe has accelerated rapidly post-2000, emphasis is placed on this period. X. germanus was first recorded in Germany in 1951 and since then in 21 European countries along with Russia. Ethanol-baited traps were deployed in oak, beech, and spruce forest ecosystems in the Western Carpathians, Central Europe, Slovakia, to characterize the distribution and habitat preference of this non-native ambrosia beetle. Captures of X. germanus within Slovakia have been rising rapidly since its first record in 2010, and now this species dominates captures of native ambrosia beetles. X. germanus has spread throughout the whole Slovakia from the south-southwest to the north-northeast over the period of 5–10 years and has also spread vertically into higher altitudes within this country. While living but weakened trees in Europe and North America are attacked by X. germanus, the greatest negative impact within Slovakia is attacks on recently felled logs of oak, beech and spruce trees providing high quality timber/lumber. We suggest that the recent rapid spread of X. germanus in Central Europe is being facilitated by environmental changes, specifically global warming, and the increasing frequency of timber trade. Recommendations for management of X. germanus in forest ecosystems are proposed and discussed, including early detection, monitoring, sanitary measures, etc.

Semiochemical-mediated host selection byXylosandrusspp. ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) attacking horticultural tree crops: a review of basic and applied science

“…Although both deciduous and coniferous species are attacked by these three Xylosandrus spp., reports of damage generally involve thin-barked deciduous species (Ngoan et al 1976;Wright 2012, 2015;Agnello et al 2015;Ranger et al 2015bRanger et al , 2016. Trees ranging in age from sapling to maturity are attacked, but X. crassiusculus and X. germanus will also attack recently cut stumps and logs (Soné et al 1998;Oliver and Mannion 2001;Zach et al 2001;La Spina et al 2013;Wright 2012, 2015;Coyle et al 2015;Reed et al 2015;Ranger et al 2016;Rassati et al 2016aRassati et al , 2020Galko et al 2018). Stems and trunks are preferred over branches by both X. crassiusculus and X. germanus (Reding et al 2010;Ranger et al 2015aRanger et al , 2019.…”

TaqMan probe assays on different biological samples for the identification of three ambrosia beetle species, Xylosandrus compactus (Eichoff), X. crassiusculus (Motschulsky) and X. germanus (Blandford) (Coleoptera Curculionidae Scolytinae)

“…The black timber bark beetle X. germanus is an invasive ambrosia beetle native to East Asia, from the Kuril Islands to Vietnam, presently occurring in Europe, Russia (European and Asiatic Regions), Turkey and North America (Galko et al 2019 ; Dzurenko et al 2020 ; CABI 2019b ; EPPO 2020 ). The species is polyphagous, and the wide range of its host plants includes many ornamentals, forest (broadleaf and more rarely coniferous species) and fruiting trees (Weber and McPherson 1983 ).…”

“…The species is polyphagous, and the wide range of its host plants includes many ornamentals, forest (broadleaf and more rarely coniferous species) and fruiting trees (Weber and McPherson 1983 ). Its diffusion across Europe has accelerated since 2000, probably because of climate change and the increased use of wood as packaging material (Galko et al 2019 ). X. germanus is a xylomycetophagous species whose larvae develop freely in the maternal gallery feeding on the fungus growing on the walls; inside mycangia and maternal gallery, fungi of the genus Ambrosiella prevail as symbiotic organisms although many other fungi, yeasts and bacteria can be found (Mayers et al 2015 ; Tuncer et al 2018 ).…”

“…The economic importance of X. germanus is relevant in the USA, where it causes consistent damages in nurseries (Ranger et al 2016 ), apple orchards (Agnello et al 2017 ) and black walnut stands (Katovich, 2004 ); in Europe, its importance is related to outbreaks in forests (Bruge, 1995 ; Galko et al 2019 ; Inward, 2020 ) and in the Mediteranean maquis (Contarini et al 2020 ) but damages have been observed also in Italy on walnut (Stergulc et al 1999 ) and chestnut plantations (Dutto et al 2018 ). Moreover , X. germanus is considered a threat to the biodiversity of autoctonous Scolytinae communities (Henin and Versteirt 2004 ; Bouget and Noblecourt 2005 ), presumably because its niche overlaps with that of the indigenous species.…”

First record of Xylosandrus germanus (Blandford) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) in the Mediterranean scrubland in Southern Italy, and its co‐presence with the co‐generic species X. compactus (Eichhoff) and X. crassiusculus (Motschulsky)

“…Among ambrosia beetles, the species of the genus Xylosandrus belong to a highly damaging group of Asian tropical origin. In particular, X. germanus (Blandford), X. crassiusculus (Motschulsky) and X. compactus (Eichhoff) are spreading worldwide, invading also temperate areas of southern Europe, including Italy (Galko et al , 2019). The highly polyphagous X. crassiusculus , attacking more than 200 plant hosts (Castrillo et al , 2013), was reported for the first time in Europe since 2003 on Turkey oaks ( Quercus cerris L.) growing in mixed woods in Tuscany.…”