Xylosandrus germanus

Black timber bark beetle

Description

The tiny beetle (females 2-2.5 mm, males 1-1.8 mm) is native to east Asia and was first recorded in Central Europe in the 1950s. It is extremely polyphagous. The females excavate an irregularly shaped cavity reaching up to 20 mm in the wood. The offspring feed on the ambrosia fungi that are introduced by the female. The teneral females mate in the breeding system and stay in the cavity during wintertime before emerging in spring. It is a univoltine species. In Central Europe, X. germanus does not seem to attack living trees. The reduction in timber quality is minor because the cavities usually only go a few millimetres into the wood, but attacked trees often become infected by blue stain fungi. A characteristic sign of attack is the presence of boring dust extruding like a toothpick from an entrance hole during cavity excavation.

Symptom

The presence of piles of white debris, later on a sawdust stacks - typical sign of ambrosia beetles - comes out of the excavation hole, with diameter of about 1 mm. the pest preffers stressed trees, dead stumps or harvested timber. Galleries can be seen from the branches to the thickest parts of the stem.

Tree Species: Beech, Oak

Part of a plant- attacked: Tree trunk, Branch

Pest significance: Harmful

Pest Category: Insects

Invasive Species: Yes

Present in EU: Yes