Tetropium fuscum, the brown spruce longhorn beetle, is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae.[1] It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1787.[1] Tetropium fuscum is native to Europe and Northern Asia, and has been introduced to Nova Scotia, Canada.[2] Brown spruce longhorn is a pest of spruce trees.

Tetropium fuscum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Family: Cerambycidae
Genus: Tetropium
Species:
T. fuscum
Binomial name
Tetropium fuscum
(Fabricius, 1787)

Distribution edit

Brown spruce longhorn beetle is native to Continental Europe and parts of Asia has been recorded in the following countries: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland Turkey and Ukraine [3]

Brown spruce longhorn beetle was found breeding in Rannoch Forest in Scotland in 2015, the first record of this species in Great Britain.[4] The beetle was later identified at two other sites in Scotland, and there are also scattered reports from England.[5] The collection of insects at the Hunterian Museum was reviewed, and a brown spruce longhorn beetle collected in Roslin in 1986 was discovered.[4] Potentially brown spruce longhorn beetle may have been breeding in the UK for thirty years or more.[5]

Brown spruce longhorn beetle is an invasive species in Canada. It was first identified in 1999 in Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia.[6][7] A review of specimens collected in the park in 1990 found that those labelled as the native species Tetropium cinnamopterum were Tetropium fuscum.[8] A single adult brown spruce longhorn was found in a trap in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.[9] Brown spruce longhorn beetle was probably introduced to Nova Scotia on wood packaging material imported into the Port of Halifax.[10]

Lifecycle edit

The larvae of brown spruce longhorn beetle are woodboring. Larvae of this beetle have been recorded infesting several different species of spruce including: black spruce, blue spruce, Norway spruce, red spruce, Sitka spruce and white spruce as well as Scot's pine.[5][8]

Adult beetles emerge in the spring and summer months and will mate soon after emergence. The adult male beetles release an aggregation phremone called fuscumol,[11] which will attract other brown spruce longhorn beetles to their location. After mating, females will select a suitable host tree for egg laying. Eggs may be laid on either standing trees or recently felled timber, with eggs laid on the bark.[8] Larvae hatch out and bore into the phloem of the wood where they will feed until they pupate the next spring and then emerge as adults.[8]

Pest Status edit

In its European range, brown spruce longhorn beetle infests dead and dying trees, or recently felled timber. This infestation may occasionally lead to the death of diseased or stressed trees that may otherwise have recovered.,[5] and it is considered to sometimes be damaging to trees in Europe.[12] In Canada, the pest initially appeared to be more aggressive and able to infest healthy red spruce trees, with larval galleries girdling the stem and killing the tree.[13] Though research showed that infested trees in Canada are of reduced vigour,[13] and that larvae have a very low survival rate on healthy trees.[14]

Brown spruce longhorn may introduce blue stain fungi when it infested trees or logs, which can reduce the value of timber.[15]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Bezark, Larry G. A Photographic Catalog of the Cerambycidae of the World. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  2. ^ CABI (2018). "Data sheet for Tetropium fuscum (brown spruce longhorn beetle)". Invasive Species Compendium. CABI.
  3. ^ Canada Food Inspection Agency (2014). "Pest Risk Management Decision Document – Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetle (Tetropium fuscum)". Canada Food Inspection Agency. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  4. ^ a b Mendel, H (2015). "Tetropium fuscum (Fabricius) (Cerambycidae) breeding in Rannoch Forest, Mid Perth". The Coleopterist. 24: 143–144.
  5. ^ a b c d Tuffen, Melanie (2018). "Rapid Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) for Tetropium fuscum". Defra. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  6. ^ "Questions and Answers". Canadian Food Inspection Agency. 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  7. ^ Smith, G; Hurley, JE (2000). "First North American Record of the Palearctic Species Tetropium fuscum (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)". The Coleopterists Bulletin. 54 (4): 540. doi:10.1649/0010-065X(2000)054[0540:FNAROT]2.0.CO;2.
  8. ^ a b c d "Brown spruce longhorn beetle". Natural Resources Canada. 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  9. ^ "Notice to Industry - Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetle detected in New Brunswick". Canadian Food Inspection Agency. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  10. ^ Maine Forest Service (2011). "BROWN SPRUCE LONGHORNED BEETLE" (PDF). Maine Department of Conservation. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  11. ^ Sweeny, JD; Silk, PJ; Gutowski, JM; Wu, J; Lemay, MA; Mayo, PD; Magee, DI (2010). "Effect of Chirality, Release Rate, and Host Volatiles on Response of Tetropium fuscum (F.), Tetropium cinnamopterum Kirby, and Tetropium castaneum (L.) to the Aggregation Pheromone, Fuscumol". Journal of Chemical Ecology. 36 (12): 1309–1321. Bibcode:2010JCEco..36.1309S. doi:10.1007/s10886-010-9876-1. PMID 21046204. S2CID 22184595.
  12. ^ Lieutier, Francoise (2007). Bark and Wood Boring Insects in Living Trees in Europe, A Synthesis. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 570. ISBN 9781402022418.
  13. ^ a b O'Leary, K; Hurley, JE; Mackay, W; Sweeney, J (2003). "Radial Growth Rate and Susceptibility of Picea rubens Sarg. to Tetropium fuscum (Fabr.)". Proceedings Ecology, Survey and Management of Forest Insects. 107-114: USDA. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.893.1517.{{cite conference}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  14. ^ Flaherty, L; Quiring, D; Pureswaran, D; Sweeney, J (2013). "Evaluating Seasonal Variation in Bottom-Up and Top-Down Forces and Their Impact on an Exotic Wood Borer, Tetropium fuscum (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)". Environmental Entomology. 42 (5): 957–966. doi:10.1603/EN13043. PMID 24073794. S2CID 29039226.
  15. ^ Jankowiak, R; Kolařík, M (2010). "Diversity and pathogenicity of ophiostomatoid fungi associated with Tetropium species colonizing Picea abies in Poland". Folia Microbiologica. 55 (2): 145–154. doi:10.1007/s12223-010-0022-9. PMID 20490757. S2CID 7490893.

External links edit