From a cause of rapid fig tree dieback to a new threat to mango production: the invasive bark beetle Cryphalus dilutus Eichhoff (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) and its associated fungi found on mango trees in Europe

Abstract

Bark and ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are receiving increasing scientific interest because of the economic losses that they can cause in invaded areas. Nonetheless, there are a number of emerging pest species, belonging to different tribes, for which invasions have likely been overlooked in the past due to their inconspicuousness, taxonomic confusion and/or misidentification. In the summer of 2022, severe infestations by a bark beetle species belonging to the tribe Cryphalini were observed on mango (Mangifera indica L.) in Eastern Sicily (Italy). No information about bark beetle attacks on mango trees in Europe was available previously. However, the occurrence of a cryphaline bark beetle species causing rapid common fig tree (Ficus carica L.) dieback was reported for the same investigated area in 2014 and 2015. We aimed to identify the bark beetle species attacking mango and common figs, and to describe the fungal pathogens vectored by this beetle species. Our results revealed that the bark beetle species attacking mango and fig trees in the studied area is Cryphalus dilutus Eichhoff and that different fungal pathogens, i.e., species of Botryosphaeriaceae, Ceratocystis ficicola and Neocosmospora spp., are vectored by this beetle species.