First report of the alien ambrosia beetle Cnestus mutilatus and further finding of Anisandrus maiche in the European part of the EPPO region (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae: Xyleborini)

Abstract

Based on specimens collected in traps in North-Eastern Italy, Cnestus mutilatus (Blandford, 1894), an ambrosia beetle native to Asia, is reported for the first time in Italy and in the European part of the EPPO region. A second species, Anisandrus maiche Kurentsov, 1941, is recorded for the first time in Italy and the third time in the European part of the EPPO region 14 and 12 years after the first detection in Ukraine and in European Russia, respectively. Both species are EU quarantine pests associated with the pathway of plants for planting and with wood material. Furthermore, they are polyphagous, able to reproduce on several genera of deciduous plants typical of temperate regions, and able to attack small diameter material and to colonize stressed and/or weakened plants. Surveillance based on traps and rearing from symptomatic material may help to assess the size and distribution of the beetle populations, the spread capability and to identify the most susceptible hosts.