A Field Study of Host Tree Associations of an Exotic Species, the Asiatic Oak Weevil [Cyrtepistomus castaneus (Roelofs 1873), Coleoptera: Curculionidae

Abstract

Abstract The Asiatic oak weevil [Cyrtepistomus castaneus (Roelofs 1873), Coleoptera: Curculionidae] was detected in New Jersey in 1933 and is now abundant throughout deciduous forests in the Eastern and Midwestern United States. Laboratory feeding trials had suggested a broad range of acceptable hosts for C. castaneus, but field studies were needed to corroborate these findings. We quantified host tree associations of C. castaneus by comparing its abundance among crowns of 66 trees (representing six species) in forests of Ohio and Indiana. The 1827 individuals collected during the study were not equally distributed across tree species; mean proportional abundance was significantly higher on Quercus alba (white oak), Q. rubra (northern red oak) and Acer rubrum (red maple). The high abundance of C. castaneus on Quercus spp. is consistent with laboratory studies and natural history information. However, its presence on A. rubrum and Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip poplar) – a Magnoliaceae – had not been docum...