Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - 2:11 PM
1143

Contamination of tree bark with Metarhizium anisopliae by Asian longhorned beetle adults exposed to fungal bands

Ryan P. Shanley, rps33@cornell.edu and Ann E. Hajek, aeh4@cornell.edu. Cornell University, Department of Entomology, 6128 Comstock Hall, Ithaca, NY

Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) (Anoplophora glabripennis) adults were individually exposed to bolts of striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum) after the bolts had been contaminated with the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae by other ALB. The first treatment involved a 30-second exposure of one beetle to a section of non-woven fiber impregnated with M. anisopliae, and subsequent placement of the “contamination beetle” into a 1 liter glass jar containing a striped maple bolt for 20 minutes. The second treatment was identical except five contamination beetles were used, and controls involved exposing one beetle to a fungus-free square of band material. Healthy ALB were placed with contaminated bolts. After 30 days, 24 beetles (100%) from the five-beetle treatment were dead, 16 beetles (67%) from the one-beetle treatment were dead, and none of the control beetles had died. Our results demonstrate that ALB adults exposed to fungal inoculum subsequently disperse conidia of M. anisopliae at high enough concentrations to infect other beetles.


Species 1: Coleoptera Cerambycidae Anoplophora glabripennis (Asian longhorned beetle)

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