First record of Ambrostoma superbum in Western Siberia
The genus Ambrostoma (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) includes ten species distributed Eastern and South-Eastern Asia. Ambrostoma superbum was recently found in Novosibirsk (Western Siberia, Russia) on elms (Ulmus pumila and U. laevis). Larvae and adults feed on leaves, and adults can also feed on bark. Damage on U. pumila was considered significant. A. superbum was previously only known to occur in the Asian part of Russia (Far East and Eastern Siberia), as well as in Mongolia, China (including Taiwan), and the Korea Peninsula.
Other Asian species feeding on elms have been recorded in Western Siberia during the last decade, such as Magdalis margaritae (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) or Orchestes ruber (Coleoptera, Curculionidae). This suggest that plantations of U. pumila can act as a bridge between the European and Far Eastern parts of the indigenous distribution areas of elms and facilitate spread of invasive species.
Sources
Legalov AA, Reshetnikov SV (2022) First invasion of Ambrostoma superbum (Thunberg, 1787) (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) in Western Siberia. Acta Biologica Sibirica 8, 253–259.
Korotyaev BA, Efimov DA (2023) On the discovery of the weevil Magdalis margaritae Barrios (Coleoptera, Curculionidae: Magdalidini) in Kemerovo City, Russia, and role of plantations of the Siberian elm, Ulmus pumila L., in the exchange of herbivores between European and eastern Palaearctic forest regions with participation of elms. Entomological Review 103(4), 492-494.