No abstract

The ambrosia beetle Platypus quercivorus causes mass mortality of Fagaceae trees in Japan, and tree species differ in their susceptibility to P. quercivorus. We hypothesized that interspecific differences in susceptibility are caused by differences in beetle infestation patterns, that is, how many beetles fly to a tree and how many of those arriving bore holes. To examine how tree susceptibility is related to these parameters, two tree species with different degrees of susceptibility were studied (highly susceptible Quercus crispula and less susceptible Q. salicina). Specifically, we measured the number of male beetles per unit area that flew to the host trees (NFM) and the density of holes bored by male beetles (DH). From these two values, we calculated the proportion of male beetles flying to a host tree that bored holes (PBM). These parameters were compared for the two Quercus species. Although the two species did not differ in NFM in 2003, PBM was markedly lower for Q. salicina than for Q. crispula and DH was significantly lower for Q. salicina than for Q. crispula.Thus, the lower susceptibility of Q. salicina is partly explained by its low PBM.