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Seasonal dominance of exotic ambrosia beetles compared to native species within deciduous and coniferous woodlots

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Abstract

Ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) are among the most successful invaders of trees on a global scale. Exotic species can establish large populations within forested habitats and disperse into tree nurseries and orchards with the potential for substantial economic losses. Our objective was to assess the seasonal dominance of exotic Scolytinae compared to native species by characterizing their flight phenology, abundance and species diversity. Weekly sampling using ethanol-baited traps was conducted within deciduous and coniferous woodlots in Ohio, USA from March/April to September/October in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2019. Over the course of the study, 16 native and 11 exotic species of Scolytinae were identified. No difference was detected in the number of exotic Scolytinae species or their abundance, Shannon’s index (H), and evenness (Eh) between the coniferous vs. deciduous woodlots. On average, initial flight occurred at 188 degree days (DD) for exotic species compared to 273 DD for native species. Seasonal flight duration of exotic species averaged 49 days compared to 10 days for native species. Of the 145,882 total Scolytinae captured over the four years, only 622 were native beetles. Captures of exotic Scolytinae were 341-times greater than native species across the four trapping seasons, including captures of the exotic ambrosia beetle Xylosandrus germanus being 450-times greater than the most common native species Xyloborinus politus. These results provide insight into the invasion success of ambrosia beetles and will aid in predicting and monitoring key species.

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Data availability

All of the presented data associated with this study are freely available upon request to the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the reviewers for taking the time to give helpful feedback on this manuscript.

Funding

This research was supported by USDA-NIFA-SCRI award #2021-51181-35863, USDA-Floriculture and Nursery Research Initiative, and base funds associated with USDA-ARS National Program 305 Project #5082-21000-018-00D. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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  1. USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Horticultural Insects Research Lab, 1680 Madison Ave, Wooster, OH, 44691, USA

    Julie A. Baniszewski, Jenny Barnett, Michael E. Reding & Christopher M. Ranger

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  1. Julie A. Baniszewski
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  2. Jenny Barnett
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  3. Michael E. Reding
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  4. Christopher M. Ranger
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Contributions

JAB: statistical analysis, writing. JB: methodology, execution of experiments, data collection, writing—review and editing. MER: conceptualization, project administration, writing—review and editing. CMR: conceptualization, methodology, supervision, project administration, writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Julie A. Baniszewski or Christopher M. Ranger.

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Baniszewski, J.A., Barnett, J., Reding, M.E. et al. Seasonal dominance of exotic ambrosia beetles compared to native species within deciduous and coniferous woodlots. Biol Invasions (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-024-03255-z

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