Review of Host Trees for the Wood-Boring Pests Anoplophora glabripennis and Anoplophora chinensis: An Urban Forest Perspective

Abstract

Two devastating insect pests have been introduced to North America and Europe – the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) (Anoplophora glabripennis) and the citrus longhorned beetle (CLB) (Anoplophora chinensis). These two wood-boring beetles are argued to be one of the most serious threats to the tree landscape since they have a large number of host species and genera. With the aim of creating an up-to-date compilation of these hosts, a systematic review was made of the literature for information on tree species attacked and used by ALB and CLB as hosts for complete life cycle or for feeding. This review revealed that a large number of tree species and genera are liable to be attacked by ALB and CLB. However, based on the findings, the whole picture is still unclear. One reason for this is the lack of transparency in published studies regarding lists of susceptible tree species for ALB and CLB. Another factor that needs to be reported is whether a tree species supports the complete life cycle of the beetles or just feeding by adult beetles. Without this information, species possessing moderate host qualities are at risk of being incorrectly labelled as very good hosts and hence excluded as urban trees.