Survey of Biota Associated with Monochamus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in Maine.

Abstract

The biota associated with Monochamus species collected in Maine include species of Acarina, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Nematoda, as well as fungal and bacterial pathogens.Mites belonging to seven families and thirteen genera were found in association with the sawyers. Two species were previously unknown and have since been described as the new genus and species Longoseius cuniculus Chant of the family Digamasellidae and the new genus and species Mucroseius monochami Lindquist of the family Blattisocidae. Parasitic diptera belonged to three genera in three different families, and of these one contained a new species, Forcipomyia innom., family Ceratopogonidae, which was found as an intermittent parasite of adult Monochamus notatus and Monochamus scutellatus. This constitutes a new host record for the biting midge family. Only one hymenopterous parasite, a species of Dolichomitus was reared from a sawyer larva. The five genera of nematodes isolated from larvae, pupae, and adults of Monochamus species include specimens of the genus Hexamermis. Parasitism by this group is thought to be unusual because of the relative inaccessibility of the host. Isolates from eight fungal genera were obtained, and strains of Beauveria bassiana, and Isaria farinosa, were shown to be pathogenic. The bacteria isolated from dead sawyers included Aerobacter aerogenes, Bacillus cereus var. mycoides, and one unidentified species. Only the tachinid E. monohammi and the mite Uropoda have been previously reported of the large number of organisms found associated with sawyer beetles in this study. The fungus Beauveria bassiana proved to be the most important biological control agent.

NOTES ON THE BIOLOGY OF TETROPIUM PARVULUM (COLEOPTERA: CERAMBYCIDAE) IN ALBERTA

“…The dead insects were found covered with white fungal mycelia, but a primary entomophagous disease organism was not found. Symptoms of the disease were similar to those caused by Beauveria bassianu strain A, in Monochamus larvae (Soper and Olson 1963).…”

Characterization of bacterial communities associated with the pine sawyer beetleMonochamus galloprovincialis, the insect vector of the pinewood nematodeBursaphelenchus xylophilus

“…Previous culture-dependent studies have also reported isolation of Serratia marcescens in M. alternatus (Ma et al, 2009), Aerobacter aerogenes and Bacillus cereus var. mycoides in M. scutellatus, M. notatus and M. marmorator (Soper & Olsen, 1963 sampling sufficiency. The low percentage of some species could be a reflection of low abundance in the community or bias introduced by DNA extraction and/or PCR amplification (Schloss et al, 2006), although TD PCR was chosen to overtake these situations as reported by Cottrell et al (2005).…”

“…Previous culture‐dependent studies have also reported isolation of Serratia marcescens in M. alternatus (Ma et al ., ), Aerobacter aerogenes and Bacillus cereus var. mycoides in M. scutellatus , M. notatus and M. marmorator (Soper & Olsen, ). Other bacteria genera were found as well, in less abundance, in M. galloprovincialis namely: Bacteroidetes , Lactococcus, Lysinibacillus, Morganella, Paenibacillus , Rahnella, Sphingomonas , Sphingobacterium and Stenotrophomonas in the thorax; in the abdomen Sediminibacterium , Klebsiella and Rahnella .…”

Nutrient Dynamics in Decomposing Dead Wood in the Context of Wood Eater Requirements: The Ecological Stoichiometry of Saproxylophagous Insects

“…The nutritional scarcity of dead wood may cause supplementary carnivory, which is observed among saproxylophages (Stokland et al 2012), and cannibalism is a special kind of predation exhibited by some of saproxylic species. For example, larvae of the large wood-boring beetle genus Monochamus are highly carnivorous and will rapidly devour each other (Soper and Olson 1963), and these insects also feed on bark beetles they encounter within dead wood (Dodds et al 2001). Furthermore, Thorne and Kimsey (1983) observed Nasutitermes termites feeding on a dead boa constrictor, a three-toed sloth, and a turtle, and in all cases, the termites had constructed carton foraging galleries over portions of the remains, beneath which feeding took place.…”