Abstract
Abstract Tetropium gabrieli is native to the European Alps where it breeds in European larch and may be an important pest during drought periods by killing trees. It has spread to larch plantations in several European countries including Sweden. In trapping studies conducted in Sweden, we tested whether T. gabrieli was attracted to E‐fuscumol, E,Z‐fuscumol, E,Z‐fuscumol acetate and the host volatile combination of α‐pinene plus ethanol. We also compared its response with those of the native congeners, T. fuscum and T. castaneum. All three Tetropium species were caught in significantly higher numbers in traps baited with E‐fuscumol plus host volatiles than in traps baited with host volatiles alone or in unbaited traps. There was no difference in catch of any Tetropium species between traps baited with E‐fuscumol plus host volatiles versus traps baited with E,Z‐fuscumol plus host volatiles, but the latter treatment caught more T. fuscum and T. castaneum than did E,Z‐fuscumol acetate plus host volatiles. The addition of E‐fuscumol to host volatile‐baited traps significantly reduced mean catch of T. gabrieli, significantly increased mean catch of T. castaneum, and had no significant effect on catch of T. fuscum. Mean catch of all three species was significantly greater in traps baited with E‐fuscumol alone than in traps baited with host volatiles alone. All three species were caught from May to August. The median date of captures was about 2 weeks earlier for T. fuscum compared with the other two species.
Highlights
The cerambycid beetle Tetropium gabrieli Weise is native to the Alps in central Europe where it breeds in European larch, Larix decidua Mill
Total catch per block for T. fuscum was positively correlated with that of T. castaneum (r = 0.81, N = 12, P = 0.001) while there was no correlation between catches of T. gabrieli and
We present evidence from field-trapping experiments that T. gabrieli is attracted to racemic E-fuscumol
Summary
The cerambycid beetle Tetropium gabrieli Weise (subfamily Spondylidinae) is native to the Alps in central Europe where it breeds in European larch, Larix decidua Mill. Surveys conducted from 2009 to 2011 using spring-felled larch trees demonstrated the beetle was present in several locations in southeastern Sweden but absent in more northern or western locations (Lindelöw et al, 2015). This survey method worked, it is practical only in larch stands, requires permission to cut trees, is quite laborious, and requires either splitting of logs to remove larvae or incubation of logs to collect emerging adults for reliable species identification. There is a high probability that additional Tetropium species may be attracted to E-fuscumol and we wanted to test this for T. gabrieli
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