The ongoing changes in climate and land use caused a worldwide increase in pest population densities. The oak pinhole borer, Platypus cylindrus, is among the ambrosia beetles known for infecting wood tissue by the fungi from their mycangia. These fungi are responsible for cellulose degradation, causing increased timber damage throughout Europe. Unfortunately, the recent findings suggest a high risk of P. cylindrus outbreaks with possible subsequent oak diebacks.
To address the issue, Subprogramme 3 of the EVA4.0 project focused on the influence of the stump diameter on P. cylindrus attraction and abundance, the trapping efficacy by a specific pheromone and interannual changes in trap catches. The research used a postharvest survey of stumps with the findings indicating that P. cylindrus abundance is positively correlated with stump diameter and interannual changes. Moreover, the type of compound used for trapping affected the trapping efficacy. However, the pheromone type did not have an impact on nontarget beetles. As doc. Resnerová describes the oak stumps can represent a source of the oak pinhole borer. Thus, forest managers should consider the need to debark or remove oak stumps, especially if the stumps are of larger diameter of over 61 cm.
For more information about the research follow this link.
Figure Male (A) and female (B) declivity in Platypus cylindrus. SEM micrographs were acquired by scanning electron microscopy using a JEOL JSM-IT500HR instrument (JEOL, Tokyo, Japan) operating at 3 kV. C…dust at base of stump resulting from feeding of the ambrosia beetle Platypus cylindrus. D… Platypus cylindrus adult beetle in gallery system. E…commercial flight barrier traps used in the experiment. Photo A-B by D. Popelková, C-E by K. Resnerová.