bark beetles Xylosandrus germanus They look for trees suitable for habitation with the smell of mushrooms grown in it. Reported by the University of Catania.
bark beetles Xylosandrus germanus It is a harmful invasive species brought from East Asia to Europe and North America. A characteristic feature of this species is the skill of “farming” – it sows symbiont fungi in gnawed passages and takes care of plantings. This pest infects more than 200 species from 51 families of broadleaf and coniferous trees, so scientists are wondering how this insect might be lured into the trap.
Females of these bark beetles are known to like to congregate in the same tree, which means they give each other chemical signals. Now scientists provenWhat X. German it does not produce its own pheromones during host tree colonization, but uses the volatile compounds of the fungal symbionts as a “gathering signal”. To do this, Peter Biedermann and his colleagues developed two types of symbiotes that carry their spores in the head pockets of insects: Ambrosiella grosmanniaemost likely main insect food source and an unknown species acremoniumwhich they are likely to eat too.
They then used these fungi as bait to study insect behavior. To do this, the females were placed in a complex arena with two dead ends. A. grosmaniaeand in the other – a different type of fungus. In addition, insects were offered the option of beech branches infected with various fungi.
As a result, it turned out to be in any case. A. grosmaniae Pulls i>X. germanus, including beetles, preferred to choose branches where this fungus has already colonized. According to scientists, this is because if the right mushroom is already growing in a place, it means that the environment in that place is suitable for it.
Based on these findings, the authors suggest that new insect traps could be developed using these compounds.
Previously, biologists confirmed that moths have “tails.” work like traps for bats