Flight dispersal patterns of Xylosandrus germanus and Anisandrus maiche (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) among flooded trees

Although ethanol-baited lures have been used to show flight dispersal patterns of common pest species of ambrosia beetles, few studies have used flood-stressed trees to exhibit this pattern. Our aim was to induce anaerobic conditions of flowering dogwood, Cornus florida L., thereby producing ethanol as a byproduct, then monitor and record beetle attacks and flight dynamics. Our experiments were conducted over 14 days in May to target peak Xylosandrus germanus attacks and again in July to target peak Anisandrus maiche attacks. Trees were set up in a grid pattern with three replicates of four trees placed every 20 m in a transect from 20 m within the woodlot to 40 m into the adjacent nursery. Number of ambrosia beetle attacks were recorded per tree to determine if tree proximity to woodlot was correlated with ambrosia beetle attacks. Cored tissue samples were taken at 7 days and 13 days after initiating flooding to correlate ethanol concentration within the trees to the number of beetle attacks. These data will help determine flight patterns among prominent pest ambrosia beetle species from within woodlots and into adjacent nurseries and provide better monitoring and control tactics.