Survey tools and demographic parameters of SlovakianAgrilusassociated with beech and poplar

Abstract

Woodborers in the Agrilus genus (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) pose high invasiveness risk as indicated by the recent invasion and continental spread of emerald ash borer, and the associated threat to ash resources in North America. In that context, development of detection tools for potentially invasive Agrilus spp. is a research priority. Experiments carried out in 2013 in Slovakian beech and poplar forests evaluated the attraction of multiple Agrilus species to green and purple sticky prism traps baited with various lures [blank, cubeb oil, (Z)‐3‐hexenol]. The two most abundant species were Agrilus viridis L. in beech (Fagus spp.) forest (146 adults, >95% of which were females) and Agrilus convexicollis Redtenbacher in poplar (Populus spp.) forest (158 adults, two‐thirds of them males). The two species exhibited opposite responses to color: purple traps attracted 2–3× more adult A. viridis than green traps, whereas most (>95%) specimens of A. convexicollis were captured on green traps. Volatile baits did not influence captures of adults for either species. The introduction and establishment of A. viridis in North America is of particular concern owing to its feeding niche (primary pest that can attack healthy trees), large body size, and high level of polyphagy (>10 genera of host trees). Additional experiments conducted in beech forests in 2014 found purple prism traps more attractive to female A. viridis than green prism traps, especially those baited with cubeb oil. No analysis was conducted for males because of their low abundance. Female A. viridis flew earlier in 2013 than in 2014, but neither their body size nor fecundity varied between years. In both years, large females had more eggs in their abdomen than small females, and the number of eggs steadily declined over time, which suggests that female A. viridis are reproductively mature at emergence.

Developing a non‐sticky trap design for monitoring jewel beetles

“…A. convexicollis was caught in significant numbers in light-green traps of both types, confirming a report from Slovakia where it was almost exclusively caught in traps with a green visual cue (Rhainds et al, 2017), and a report from Italy where catches in green multi-funnel Lindgren traps were higher than in purple traps of the same design (Rassati et al, 2019). A. angustulus and A. graminis are also recorded from the Russian Far East, although both are described as Western Palearctic species (Jendek & Nakladal, 2019).…”

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

“…Females commonly rest on tree foliage and males locate them, guided by the spectral emission profiles of the females' body [23][24][25]. For this reason, metallic green-colored species, such as Agrilus spp., are attracted by green traps, e.g., [31,[41][42][43]82], whereas species with darker metallic coloration such as C. affinis (in our study) or Coroebus undatus (F.) (in previous studies) are mainly attracted by darker trap colors, such as purple or blue [35,36,81].…”

“…Many Agrilus species and other metallic-colored buprestids were instead found to be generally attracted by green and purple traps [21,[31][32][33][34][35][36], even if certain species or individuals of particular sex within the same species show a clear preference for only one of these two colors [37][38][39]. Most studies testing the effect of trap color on jewel beetles have been conducted in North America after the invasion of the emerald ash borer A. planipennis in 2002 [40], whereas in Europe similar investigations are still rare and are mainly based on a limited number of colors [21,[41][42][43].…”

Enhancing Buprestidae monitoring in Europe: Trap catches increase with a fluorescent yellow colour but not with the presence of decoys

“…sulcicollis and A . viridis [ 39 , 46 , 52 ]. However, these colours were primarily used because of their attractiveness to EAB and other colours may be better suited to monitoring alternative species.…”

“…Currently, trapping of jewel beetles relies mostly on sticky (prism) traps or large multifunnel traps [ 30 , 31 , 33 , 45 , 47 , 51 , 52 ]. Sticky traps are notoriously difficult to handle, and saturation of the sticky surface by target and non-target insects is a typical limitation of such traps, reducing their efficiency over time [ 61 ].…”