Wolbachia infection in the Coffee Berry Borer (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

A nested polymerase chain reaction protocol yielded positive detection of the maternally inherited cytoplasmic proteobacterium Wolbachia in total genomic DNA from coffee berry borers collected in Benin, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Uganda. Wolbachia was not detected in specimens from Cameroon, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Jamaica, and Peru. Amplified bands from India and Brazil were cloned and sequenced. The 438-bp sequence clearly conformed to Wolbachia group B and was nearly identical to that of Ephestia kuehniella. The possible implications of Wolbachia infection in the coffee berry borer are discussed.

ESTUDO DA OCORRÊNCIA DE SCOLYTIDAE E PLATYPODIDAE EM MADEIRAS DA AMAZÔNIA

Estudos sobre a ocorrência das famílias Scolytidae e Platypodidae (Insecta: Co-leoptera) em madeiras verdes são escassos na região amazônica. Estes besouros, apesar de se alimentarem de fungos manchadores, danificam a madeira, construindo galerias para o cultivo do seu alimento e reprodução. Durante a realização de um censo destas famílias em dezesseis essências florestais no município de Presidente Figueiredo - AM, foi observada uma diferença significativa com relação ao número de espécimes coletados, considerando principalmente os gêneros Xyleborus e Platypus, mais comumente encontrados. Foi observada também a susceptibilidade do cerne e alburno das diferentes espécies florestais ao ataque destas famílias, onde constatou-se que o cerne é mais resistente que o alburno.

Preferência de vôo de nove espécies da família scolytidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) na Amazônia Central1

Neste trabalho foi avaliada a preferência por altura de vôo de nove espécies da família Scolytidae, capturadas com armadilhas Escolitídeo/Curitiba e Marques/Carrano/Abreu, instaladas a 1; 3; 5; 7,5 e 10m de altura na Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke, no km 22 da rodovia AM-010 (Manaus, AM). Para isto foi feita uma análise de variância e as médias comparadas pelo teste de Tukey. O resultado das análises mostraram que, independente da armadilha utilizada, Xyleborus affinis Eichhoff, Xyleborus sp. 1 e Monarthrum sp. 1 apresentaram preferência de vôo por alturas inferiores a 3m; Cryptocarenus heveae (Hagedorn) mostrou preferência por alturas superiores a 5m; e Hypothenemus obscurus Fabricius acima de 7,5m; Xylosandrus compactus Eichhoff não apresentou preferência por qualquer altura de vôo. Cryptocarenus diadematus Eggers, Hypothenemus eruditus Westwood e Premnobius cavipennis Eichhoff apresentaram divergência quanto à tendência de vôo, em relação às armadilhas utilizadas.

Plants of an Eucalyptus clone damaged by Scolytidae and Platypodidae (Coleoptera)

Species of Scolytidae and Platypodidae were evaluated in a plantation using a clone of Eucalyptus grandis x Eucalyptus urophylla in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Wood disks with galleries were taken from 15 eucalyptus trees between 0.5 and 1.5 m height. After collection, all trees attacked were burned. Woodborers obtained from these disks were identified as Premnobius cavipennis, Premnobius ambitiosus, Dryocoetoides cristatus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) and Euplatypus parallelus (Coleoptera: Platypodidae). This is the first report of D. cristatus, a Brazilian native species, damaging eucalyptus, which shows its adaptation to this plant.

Occurrence of Euplatypus parallelus, Euplatypus sp. (col.: Euplatypodidae) and Xyleborus affinis (col.: Scolytidae) in Pinus sp. in Ribas do Rio Pardo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Wood borer species of the families Euplatypodidae and Scolytidae were observed attacking trees of Pinus sp. in the Municipality of Ribas do Rio Pardo, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, in March 2000. This plantation had been previously burned in an accidental fire in January 2000, causing the trees to become partially or totally unhealthy, rendering them more susceptible to attack of these pests. Galleries of these wood borers were opened with a chisel to observe parameters such as their direction and form of these galleries. Species observed as wood borers of Pinus sp. were Euplatypus parallelus, Euplatypus sp. (Coleoptera: Euplatypodidae) and Xyleborus affinis (Coleoptera: Scolytidae).

Comparison of four trap types for ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera, Scolytidae) in Brazilian Eucalyptus stands

Eucalyptus spp. plantations represent >60% of the reforested area in Brazil. Although ambrosia beetle attacks on live trees were at first nonexistent, they have begun to appear with greater frequency. Monitoring for pest insects is a key factor in integrated pest management, and baited traps are one of the most widely used methods for insect population detection and survey. We compared the efficiency of the most widely used trap in Brazil to survey for ambrosia beetles and other Scolytidae, the ESALQ-84 type, with other traditionally employed traps: the multiple funnel (Lindgren trap); drainpipe; and slot (Theyson) traps, in a Eucalyptus grandis Hill ex Maiden stand in Brazil. The ESALQ-84 trap was the most efficient in trapping Hypothenemus eruditus Westwood and Hypothenemus obscurus (F.); the multiple funnel trap caught significantly more Cryptocarenus diadematus Eggers; whereas the slot trap caught more Premnobius cavipennis Eichhoff and Xyleborus affinis Eichhoff than the other traps. The drainpipe trap was the least effective trap overall. When corrected for number of beetles caught per trap surface area, catches were significantly higher on the ESALQ-84 trap for the majority of the species analyzed, probably because of a smaller trap surface area. The slot trap was recommended for it caught overall more beetles of the three most economically important scolytid species in eucalypt plantations in Brazil, P. cavipennis, X. affinis, and X, ferrugineus.

Ambrosia and bark beetles (Scolytidae : Coleoptera) in pine and eucalypt stands in southern Brazil

More than 95% of the reforested area in Brazil is covered by exotic Eucalyptus and Pinus plantations. Native Scolytidae, mostly ambrosia beetles, appear to be rapidly adapting to these exotic trees, and reports of economic damage are becoming frequent. The objectives of our research were to survey, characterize and compare the Scolytidae fauna present in a P. taeda and an E. grandis stand in Telemaco Borba, Parana state, Brazil. Beetles were caught in ethanol baited ESALQ-84 vane traps in weekly collections from July 1995 until July 1997. In all, 87 species were trapped, 62 in the pine and 75 in the eucalypt stand. The most abundant beetle species in the pines were Hypothenemus eruditus, Xyleborinus gracilis, Cryptocarenus sp. and Xylosandrus retusus, while the most frequent were H. eruditus, Cryptocarenus sp., H. obscurus, Ambrosiodmus obliquus, and X. gracilis. In the eucalypt stand, H. eruditus, X. retusus, H. obscurus, X. ferrugineus and Microcorthylus minimus were the most abundant species, and H. eruditus, H. obscurus and M. minimus were the most frequently trapped. The majority of the species, regardless of the forest community, were most active between August (end of winter) and October (mid-spring). Significantly more H. eruditus, X. gracilis, Cryptocarenus sp., Corthylus obliquus, Hypothenemus bolivianus, A. obliquus, Sampsonius dampfi and Xyleborus affinis were trapped in the pine stand, while X. retusus, H. obscurus, X. ferrugineus, Xyleborinus linearicollis, Corthylus sp, and Corthylus convexicauda were caught in higher numbers in the eucalypt stand. Approximately 50% of the species trapped were found in both communities. Morisita's similarity index indicates the composition of the two communities is very similar, suggesting that most of the beetles are polyphagous. (C) 2001 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Bark and ambrosia beetle (Coleoptera : Scolytidae) responses to volatiles from aging loblolly pine billets

Many species of bark and ambrosia beetles use host volatiles as cues for breeding site location. In a study where the objectives were to identify the different volatiles released by Pinus taeda L. billets as they age, to determine the arrival sequence of scolytids (Colcoptera: Scolytidae), and to correlate volatile emission by the billets with beetle catches, 25 species of scolytids were trapped. Bark beetles were more attracted to the billets in the beginning of the period. whereas ambrosia beetles arrived later. Among the bark beetles, Dendroctonus terebrans (Olivier) was significantly more attracted during the Ist 3 wk after tree felling, Hylastes tenuis Eichhoff in the Ist 2 wk. Pityophtorus pulicarius (Zimmermann) in weeks 2 and 3, and Ips grandicollis (Eichhoff) was more attracted on weeks 3 and 4. Among the ambrosia beetles, Xyleborinus saxeseni (Ratzeburg) was more attracted to billets during weeks 4-6, whereas Xyleborus pubescens Zimmermann and Xyleborus californicus Wood were more attracted during week 6. The billets showed marked decline in attractiveness to all scolytids after 8 wk. Volatiles collected during the beetle trapping periods included 15 hydrocarbon monoterpenes, 18 oxygenated monoterpenes, 4-allylanisole, and ethanol. The hydrocarbon monoterpenes and 4-allylanisole decreased sharply over time, but oxygenated monoterpenes and ethanol increased up to weeks 4-6, after which they also decreased. Good correlations between certain billet volatiles and catches for some beetle species were obtained, but their biological significance could not be determined.

Plants of an Eucalyptus clone damaged by Scolytidae and Platypodidae (Coleoptera)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Attraction of ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera : Scolytidae) to different tropical pine species in Brazil

Ambrosia beetles are the predominant Scolytidae in Brazil. Little is known about the attractiveness of exotic conifer tree volatiles to native scolytids. Objectives were to compare the attractiveness of logs with and without bark of Pinus oocarpa Schiede, P. caribaea variety bahamensis Barrett & Golfari, P, car. variety caribaea Barrett & Golfari and P. car. variety hondurensis Barrett & Golfari over time to native scolytids in different pine stands, to compare the relative attractiveness of logs relative to ethanol traps, to determine how long it takes for logs to become attractive to ambrosia beetles and when attraction peaks occur, and to determine if volatiles released by live standing trees would mask volatiles released by logs of the same species. In young stands, Hypothenemus was the predominant insect genus, whereas in older stands Xyleborus predominated. Debarked logs trapped more beetles than logs with bark. Pine log species attractiveness was not influenced by volatiles present in the stand. Beetles were divided into the following 3 groups, based on response to log volatiles and ethanol: (1) species attracted to ethanol and not responding to pine terpenes Ambrosiodmus hagedorni (Iglesia), A. retusus (Eichhoff), X. spinulosus Blandford, Corthylus schaufussi Schiede, Cryptocarenus heveae (Hagedorn), H. obscurus (F.), (2) species attracted to ethanol but responding to pine terpenes Xyleborinus gracilis (Eichhoff), X. affinis Eichhoff, H. eruditus Westwood, Premnobius cavipennis Eichhoff, and (3) species more attracted to pine terpenes and less responsive to ethanol, A. obliquus (Le Conte), X. ferrugineus F,, X. catulus Blandford. Pinus car. ;variety bahamensis was the least attractive pine, P. oocarpa the most attractive. The attraction peak varied according to the season; logs were not attractive to beetles 10 wk after cutting.

Identification of sulcatol, a potential pheromone of the ambrosia beetle Gnathotrichus materiarius (Col., Scolytidae)

We report the identification of a potential pheromone for Gnathotrichus materiarius (Fitch) (Col., Scolytidae). The population sex ratio is close to 1:1, and males initiate attacks on host trees. Headspace and hindgut samples from single males showed the presence of the putative pheromone 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-ol, sulcatol. Unmated males released sulcatol for at least 12 days, and ceased producing the pheromone after 20 days. The peak sulcatol release occurred after 2 days. Males cease production of sulcatol 24 h after being paired with females. Single females were unable to initiate galleries, and no sulcatol was detected from their headspace and hindgut samples. The chiral ratio of the pheromone, observed from headspace samples, was 31% (S)-(+)- and 69% (R)-(-)-sulcatol.

Biologia em diferentes temperaturas e ocorrência de Prorops nasuta Wat. e Cephalomia stephanoderis Betr. (Hymenoptera: Bethlydae) parasitando Hypothenemus Hampei (Ferr.) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)