Oviposition by the Red Oak Borer, Enaphalodes rufulus Coleoptera: Cerambycidae

Abstract

Oviposition and host preference tests were conducted with red oak borer, Enaphalodes rufulus (Haldemann), collected at the Scioto Trail State Forest, Ohio. Activities such as crawling, flying, mating, stridulation, and oviposition began ca. 2200 EST at light intensities under 2 fc, temperatures above 15°C, and RH above 75%. Multiple matings were common but unmated females did not lay eggs. Forty-five females laid an average of 119 eggs, in a 19-day average oviposition period. Egg viability averaged 99%. Host preference tests with wood samples indicated that the red oak borer prefers northern red oak, Quercus rubra L., black oak, Q. velutina Lam., and scarlet oak, Q. coccinea Muenchh., over white oak, Q. alba L., for oviposition. When oak wood is not available, females lay only 4% of their eggs on wood samples of species such as black walnut, Juglans nigra L., white ash, Fraxinus americana L., shagbark hickory, Carya ovata (Mill.) K. Koch, red maple, Acer rubrum L., and American elm, Ulmus americana L. Oviposition sites are in bark cracks, under bark scales, and under lichen patches. On trees with smooth bark, eggs are laid under tightly atached vines such as poison ivy, Rhus toxicodendron L., and Virginia creeper, Parthenocissus spp. Eggs are held in place by a water soluble adhesive.