Many longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) use stressed or weakened trees as larval hosts. Presumably the adult beetles can detect stressed trees and choose compromised hosts for their larvae. We tested the ability of three species of cerambycid, Neoclytus a. acuminatus (Fabricius), Xylotrechus colonus (Fabricius), and Megacyllene caryae (Gahan) to detect salt- and drought-stressed green ash, Fraxinus pennsylvanica var. subintegerrima (Vahl) Fern. and white ash, Fraxinus americana L.. In choice tests the beetles chose the stressed trees over trees that received adequate salt-free water. Moreover, we determined that the beetles use tree volatiles to find the stressed hosts and that the host signals are released from the trunk of the tree.
Species 1: Coleoptera Cerambycidae Neoclytus acuminatus (redheaded ash borer)
Species 2: Coleoptera Cerambycidae Xylotrechus colonus (rustic borer)
Species 3: Coleoptera Cerambycidae Megacyllene caryae (painted hickory borer)
Keywords: plant stress hypothesis
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