Pheromone detection of the introduced forest pest Megaplatypus mutatus (=Platypus mutatus) (Chapuis) (Platypodinae, Curculionidae) in Italy.

GONZALEZ AUDINO PAOLA; GRIFFO RAFAELE; GATTI PABLO; ALLEGRO GIANNI ; ZERBA EDUARDO

AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2013 vol. 87 p. 109 - 115

0167-4366

Abstract Megaplatypus mutatus (Chapuis) (=Platypusmutatus), an ambrosia beetle native to SouthAmerica, attacks standing live trees of a wide range offorest and fruit tree species, and it is particularlydamaging to commercial poplar plantations. In 2000,M. mutatus was observed for the first time in Italy, inthe province of Caserta, near Naples. The developmentof a pheromone-based monitoring system, fordetecting the spread and for managing M. mutatusinfestations, is an important goal for both Europeanand South American control and surveillance programs.Using a three component pheromone blenddeveloped in Argentina into commercial funnel trapswe were able to asses the level of dispersion of thispest in the Italian Campania region. Insects werecaptured in all the plantations suspected of beinginfested based on the presence of active parental andlarval galleries. We also provide the first report of theattack followed by completion of the life cycle of M.mutatus in European hazelnut, Corylus avellana L.