Effect of Trap Color on Captures of Bark- and Wood-Boring Beetles (Coleoptera; Buprestidae and Scolytinae) and Associated Predators

Traps baited with attractive lures are increasingly used at entry-points and surrounding natural areas to intercept exotic wood-boring beetles accidentally introduced via international trade. Several trapping variables can affect the efficacy of this activity, including trap color. In this study, we tested whether species richness and abundance of jewel beetles (Buprestidae), bark and ambrosia beetles (Scolytinae), and their common predators (i.e., checkered beetles, Cleridae) can be modified using trap colors different to those currently used for surveillance of jewel beetles and bark and ambrosia beetles (i.e., green or black). We show that green and black traps are generally efficient, but also that many flower-visiting or dark-metallic colored jewel beetles and certain bark beetles are more attracted by other colors. In addition, we show that checkered beetles have color preferences similar to those of their Scolytinae preys, which limits using trap color to minimize their inadvertent removal. Overall, this study confirmed that understanding the color perception mechanisms in wood-boring beetles can lead to important improvements in trapping techniques and thereby increase the efficacy of surveillance programs.

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Maximizing Bark and Ambrosia Beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Catches in Trapping Surveys for Longhorn and Jewel Beetles

Journal of Economic Entomology ◽

10.1093/jee/toaa181 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 113 (6) ◽

pp. 2745-2757 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Matteo Marchioro ◽

Davide Rassati ◽

Massimo Faccoli ◽

Kate Van Rooyen ◽

Chantelle Kostanowicz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bark Beetles ◽

Ambrosia Beetle ◽

Ambrosia Beetles ◽

Longhorn Beetles ◽

Entry Points ◽

Trap Color ◽

Bark And Ambrosia Beetles ◽

Trap Height ◽

Associated Species ◽

Wood Boring

Abstract Bark and ambrosia beetles are commonly moved among continents within timber and fresh wood-packaging materials. Routine visual inspections of imported commodities are often complemented with baited traps set up in natural areas surrounding entry points. Given that these activities can be expensive, trapping protocols that attract multiple species simultaneously are needed. Here we investigated whether trapping protocols commonly used to detect longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) and jewel beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) can be exploited also for detecting bark and ambrosia beetles. In factorial experiments conducted in 2016 both in Italy (seminatural and reforested forests) and Canada (mixed forest) we tested the effect of trap color (green vs purple), trap height (understory vs canopy), and attractive blend (hardwood-blend developed for broadleaf-associated wood-boring beetles vs ethanol in Italy; hardwood-blend vs softwood-blend developed for conifer-associated wood-boring beetles, in Canada) separately on bark beetles and ambrosia beetles, as well as on individual bark and ambrosia beetle species. Trap color affected catch of ambrosia beetles more so than bark beetles, with purple traps generally more attractive than green traps. Trap height affected both beetle groups, with understory traps generally performing better than canopy traps. Hardwood-blend and ethanol performed almost equally in attracting ambrosia beetles in Italy, whereas hardwood-blend and softwood-blend were more attractive to broadleaf-associated species and conifer-associated species, respectively, in Canada. In general, we showed that trapping variables suitable for generic surveillance of longhorn and jewel beetles may also be exploited for survey of bark and ambrosia beetles, but trapping protocols must be adjusted depending on the forest type.

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Exploiting trap color to improve surveys of longhorn beetles

Journal of Pest Science ◽

10.1007/s10340-020-01303-w ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Giacomo Cavaletto ◽

Massimo Faccoli ◽

Lorenzo Marini ◽

Johannes Spaethe ◽

Filippo Giannone ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Block Design ◽

Beetle Species ◽

Mixed Response ◽

Longhorn Beetles ◽

Longhorn Beetle ◽

Trap Color ◽

Surveillance Programs ◽

Materials Used ◽

Flower Visiting ◽

Species Richness And Abundance

AbstractLonghorn beetles are commonly moved among continents within wood packaging materials used in trades. Visual inspections carried out at points of entry often fail to detect exotic longhorn beetles as infested materials may have little or no sign of colonization. Black-colored traps baited with pheromones and host volatiles are thus used to improve chances of detection. Here we tested whether existing surveillance protocols for longhorn beetles can be further improved using trap colors different than black. Baited traps of eight different colors (i.e., grey, yellow, green, red, blue, brown, purple and black) were deployed in a randomized complete block design at 16 sites in northern Italy in 2019. A total of 6,001 individuals from 56 longhorn beetle species were trapped. In general, yellow and blue traps caught a significantly higher number of longhorn beetle species than black traps. In addition, trap color significantly affected species richness and abundance at the subfamily and species level, with mixed response mostly linked to the habit of visiting flowers for food. Flower-visiting longhorn beetles mainly exhibited clear preference for flower-related colors, i.e., yellow, green and blue, whereas non-flower-visiting species were more attracted by dark and long-wavelength-dominated colors, like red and brown. Our results clearly indicate that generic surveillance programs should not rely exclusively on black traps and that the use of more trap colors can strongly improve the chance of detecting native and exotic longhorn beetles potentially moved with trades.

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Bark and Wood Boring Insects—Past, Present, and the Future Knowledge We Need

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects12010028 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 28

Author(s):

Dimitrios N. Avtzis ◽

Ferenc Lakatos

Keyword(s):

Diverse Group ◽

Ambrosia Beetles ◽

The Future ◽

Bark And Ambrosia Beetles ◽

Wood Boring

Bark and wood-boring insects represent a very diverse group of insects that includes bark and ambrosia beetles, cerambycids, weevils, jewel beetles, or even anobiids from the order of beetles (Coleoptera), but in the broader sense other insect orders like Lepidoptera (e [...]

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Disruption of coniferophagous bark beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) mass attack using angiosperm nonhost volatiles: from concept to operational use

The Canadian Entomologist ◽

10.4039/tce.2020.63 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 153 (1) ◽

pp. 19-35

Author(s):

Dezene P.W. Huber ◽

Christopher J. Fettig ◽

John H. Borden

Keyword(s):

Bark Beetles ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Insect Herbivory ◽

Agricultural Practice ◽

Ambrosia Beetles ◽

Forest Pests ◽

Nonhost Volatiles ◽

Bark And Ambrosia Beetles ◽

Mass Attack ◽

Individual Trees

AbstractAlthough the use of nonhost plants intercropped among host crops has been a standard agricultural practice for reducing insect herbivory for millennia, the use of nonhost signals to deter forest pests is much more recent, having been developed over the past several decades. Early exploratory studies with synthetic nonhost volatile semiochemicals led to targeted electrophysiological and trapping experiments on a variety of bark and ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) across three continents. This work disclosed a suite of antennally and behaviourally active nonhost volatiles, which are detected in common across a range of coniferophagous bark beetles. It also established the fact that dispersing bark and ambrosia beetles detect nonhost signals while in flight and avoid nonhost trees without necessarily landing on them. Later work showed that groups of synthetic nonhost volatiles, sometimes combined with insect-derived antiaggregants, are effective in protecting individual trees and forest stands. Further work in this system may lead to the development of a variety of new and useful tactics for use in various integrated pest management strategies.

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