Beware - Aromia bungii, new pest from China

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Alisdair

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Beware - Aromia bungii, new pest from China
« on: March 26, 2013, 10:10:19 AM »
DEFRA, in charge of plant health in the UK, has just sent me a risk assessment on a potential new pest, which could be devastating in warmer parts of Europe.
In the last few years a Chinese wood-boring beetle, Aromia bungii, has been identified as a risk in Europe. One was found in 2011 in an old damson tree near Kolbermoor in the south of Bavaria (Germany), and in September last year apricot and plum trees were found to be affected in several town parks and gardens between Naples and Pozzuoli (southern Italy). In both areas an eradication programme is under way.
The theory is that the beetle probably arrived in wooden pallets for machinery from China - in 2008 it was intercepted on arrival in a pallet, once in the UK and once in the USA.
Its main target is Prunus species, particularly plum and apricot, but is known to attack a wide range of other species including olives, pomegranates, persimmons, poplars - and the neem oil tree, which is a relative of Melia azedarach. Many other trees may be at risk.
The area of China in which it is most common has high summer temperatures, but also some winter frost. So the beetle is thought capable of surviving winter in north-west Europe, but is thought most likely to breed successfully in the warmer parts of Europe.
The larvae feed on the sapwood of the trunk and larger branches, then bore into the heartwood to pupate. At early stages of infestation, spread from tree to tree is likely to be slow, but if an infestation becomes heavy the beetle, if it behaves as other similar longhorn beetles do, may travel up to a kilometre or more. The beetles can cause severe crop losses, but there is no data from China on how often they kill trees.
Once tree boring beetles are established in an area, they are difficult to control, so it's clearly best to prevent their establishment, preferably by total exclusion.
One proposal is that imports of known host species from China should be banned. But the main route in seems to be pallets, which suggests a need for improved heat treatment or fumigation for these (there is a binding international standard).
Infested trees should be destroyed - this is happening in Italy, backed by a public awareness programme.
If anyone has any views on this, I will pass them on to DEFRA.
This Crown Copyright photo shows what the beetle - variously known as the Ren-Necked Peach Longhorn Beetle, Plum & Peach Longhorn Beetle, or just Red-Necked Longhorn Beetle - looks like:
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

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MikeHardman

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Re: Beware - Aromia bungii, new pest from China
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2013, 01:07:12 PM »
Thanks for the heads-up Alisdair.

The boring activities would make branches more prone to breakage in the wind. I had a branch on an olive break last week, revealing a tunnel down the middle, which I presume was made by a leopard moth larva. Also, with Prunus especially, the exit holes will provide points of entry for various pathogens, such as silver leaf.

There are lots of species of longhorn beetle, and lots of those are pests. For instance, there is also an alert out in Britain for Asian Longhorn Beetle (ALB), Anoplophora glabripennis, which has already turned up in the USA and Britain - http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/expestalb.pdf/$file/expestalb.pdf.
And Japanese Cedar Longhorn Beetle, Callidiellum rufipenne - http://www.massnrc.org/pests/pestFAQsheets/japanesecedarlonghorn.html
Different places have different threats, depending on climate, the presence of suitable host trees, introduction pathway, etc.

General awareness of the threat from multiple species of longhorn beetle is being raised by notices such as this - http://www.pestalert.org/viewArchPestAlert.cfm?rid=27. ...Which points out 'Living longhorned beetles are increasingly being intercepted on commodities not covered under solid wood packing materials (SWPM) regulations. The importation of untreated commodities such as bamboo garden stakes, Christmas trees, and baskets may develop into high risk pathways for pest introduction.'

As well as introduced species, there are native ones.
In Cyprus, endemic longhorn beetles include:
- Agapanthia nicosiensis
- Purpuricenus nicocles
- Trichoferus antonioui
Other areas have their own wild species.
They all damage trees. Wild species tend to have reached a balance in their ecosystems, though sometimes it can be somewhat dynamic - in that population numbers may explode and crash as part of natural cycles. Introduced species run a greater risk of getting out of control because of lack/diminishment of natural predators and pathogens.

So, I would suggest being aware of longhorn beetles, and try to identify any adults you see, in case they are non-native species - which should be reported to local authorities. You may also come across the larvae in wood, but they are much harder to speciate, and fairly difficult to tell from the larvae of some other invertebrates (such as leopard moth).

Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

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Alisdair

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Re: Beware - Aromia bungii, new pest from China
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2013, 10:12:50 AM »
DEFRA, the UK plant health authority, has just published the results of the consultation exercise I mentioned earlier. You can find it by clicking here and scrolling down to Aromia bungii.
It recommends an information campaign, UK statutory action for protection against possible introduction of the pest including stricter controls on relevant tree species imports from Italy, and  Europe-wide action, possibly in concert with Germany.
These recommendations are in line with the comments I had made to DEFRA, who had previously told me that they value the ability of the MGS Forum to tap into European experience. They credit the Mediterranean Garden Society, along with Kent County Council, the National Farmers Union, the Royal Horticultural Society, Scottish Natural Heritage, and a pallet manufacturer (pallet wood being a possible infection source), as one of the six respondents to the consultation.

Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society