Interception of Callidiellum villosulum in Malta
In April 2013, a single male specimen of Callidiellum villosulum (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) was noticed at Burmarrad in Malta. The insect was found on traded wooden commodities. Some of the wooden items were not debarked and had been imported, via Italy, from China. C. villosulum (brown fir longhorn beetle) is native to Southeastern China. Its known host plants mainly belong to the Taxodiaceae family, such as Cunninghamia lanceolata, Cryptomeria japonica, Taiwania cryptomeriodes, but also Chamaecyparis formosensis (Cupressaceae) and Pinus taiwanensis (Pinaceae). This is the first time that this insect is intercepted in Europe, but interceptions have been reported from Australia (on wood packaging material), Canada, Japan, and the USA (in real trunks of artificial Christmas trees from China). This interception clearly indicates that C. villosulum has the potential to be moved between continents via traded commodities, in particular wood and wood packaging material.
Note: it can be recalled that a related species also originating from Asia, Callidiellum rufipenne (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae - cedar longhorn beetle, formerly EPPO Alert List), has been introduced into the USA and Argentina, as well as into several European countries (see current distribution at https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/CLLLRU).
Sources
Cocquempot C, Mifsud D (2013) First European interception of the brown fir longhorn beetle, Callidiellum villosulum (Fairmaire, 1900) (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae). Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Malta 6, 143-147.