First report of Euwallacea fornicatus in Argentina
Euwallacea fornicatus sensu stricto (Coleoptera: Scolytinae, EPPO A2 List) is first reported from Argentina. An outbreak in the urban forest of the city of Buenos Aires was reported in March 2022, but the first specimens were observed in June 2021. The identity of the pest was confirmed by morphological and molecular methods. Considering the large number of trees attacked and the record of new reproductive host species, the authors consider that the beetle is established and widespread in this area. E. fornicatus was observed on 13 host plants, with a marked preference for Acer trees and six species are new host plants for this insect (Acer japonicum, Platanus acerifolia, Populus deltoides, Schinus longifolia, Solanum granuloso-leprosum as reproductive hosts, and Inga uruguensis as non-reproductive host).
The authors consider that this record is the first reliable record in South America as the previous records in Brazil were indirect and may be due to an erroneous synonymy of the superficially similar Coptoborus tristiculus (Wood, 1975) with Xyleborus molestulus Wood, 1975, which was recently synonymized with Euwallacea perbrevis (another member of the Euwallacea fornicatus species complex).
Sources
Ceriani-Nakamurakare ES, Johnson AJ, Gomez DF (2023) Uncharted territories: first report of Euwallacea fornicatus (Eichhoff) in South America with new reproductive hosts records. Zootaxa 5325(2), 289-297.