Scolytus kirschii
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Scolytus kirschii , female |
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| Scolytus kirschii | ||||||||||||
| Skalitzky , 1876 |
Scolytus kirschii is a weevil from the subfamily of the bark beetle (Scolytinae). Since it creates its breeding systems in the bark of the host trees, it is counted among the bark breeders. It occurs mainly on elms and belongs to the elm splint beetles .
features
The beetles are 2.5 millimeters long and have a brownish-black colored, cylindrical body. The pronotum is large, narrowed in front, the base and sides are edged. Seen from above, it does not cover the head. In the male beetle, the forehead is flat and hairy, while in the female beetle it is arched and bald ( sexual dimorphism ). The abdomen rises obliquely from the second sternite towards the end. On this is a small, backward-directed spinous process. The rails ( tibia ) of the front legs are smooth on the outside, the tip is curved like a hook. The third tarsal link is bilobed. The red-brown colored wing covers have regular rows of points made of small depressions.
distribution
The species is distributed in southern , central and eastern Europe , the Ukraine , Crimea and the Caucasus .
Way of life
Scolytus kirschii occurs mainly on elms ( Ulmus ), occasionally also on Prunus species, common ash ( Fraxinus excelsior ) and silver poplar ( Populus alba ). It colonizes the bark of the trees. The feeding pattern is a very short one-armed mother tunnel , about one centimeter long (vertical longitudinal tunnel). The four to ten larval ducts branch off laterally from this. One generation is trained each year; the flight time is from May to June. The species is less common than other elm splint beetles . The beetle eats at the junctions of small branches and at the base of the leaf stalks (ripening or nutritional feed).
In doing so, and when boring into the bark / bark, it transfers spores of the fungus Ceratocystis ulmi . This fungus causes a disease in trees, elm disease , which usually leads to their death, but at least causes individual twigs or branches to die off. This can lead to economic damage, as dead tree trunks can often only be marketed as firewood , for which far lower prices are achieved than for veneer or sawn timber .
Combat
Control is practically impossible because the animals will always have material that is suitable for breeding. Infested trees are usually discovered too late. Foci of infestation must be completely eliminated if one wishes to curb further spread and the bark with the larvae and eggs as well as the infected wood must be destroyed. In many places, however, the elms have already died on the fungus and are therefore no longer available as host trees. There have been attempts to cultivate Resista elms to resist the fungus.
Synonyms
The following synonyms for Scolytus kirschii are known from the literature :
- Scolytus kirschii Skalitzky , 1876 [species]
- Scolytus kirschii Skalitzky , 1876 [nominotypical subspecies]
- Scolytus fasciatus Reitter , 1890
- Eccoptogaster demaisoni Eggers , 1912
- Scolytus ruguloides Sokanovsky , 1954
literature
- Fritz Schwerdtfeger : The forest diseases. Textbook of forest pathology and forest protection . 4th, revised edition. Parey, Hamburg and Berlin 1981, ISBN 3-490-09116-7
- Sabine Green : Manual for the determination of the European bark beetle Verlag M. & H. Schaper, Hanover 1979, ISBN 3-7944-0103-4
- Edmund Reitter : Fauna Germanica - The beetles of the German Empire. Volume 5, KG Lutz, Stuttgart 1916
- Edmund Reitter: Fauna Germanica - The beetles of the German Empire. 5 volumes, Stuttgart KG Lutz 1908 - 1916, digital library volume 134, Directmedia Publishing GmbH, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89853-534-7
- Karl Skalitzky: Scolytus kirschii nov. spec. In: Entomological monthly sheets . tape 1 , 1876, p. 110 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Scolytus kirschii Skalitzky, 1876. Fauna Europaea, Version 1.3, April 19, 2007 , accessed on October 16, 2008 .
