Seasonal changes in population structure of the ambrosia beetle  Xylosandrus compactus  and its associated fungi in a southern Mediterranean environment

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Abstract

Exotic ambrosia beetles are increasing in Europe due to global trade and global warming. Among these xylomycetophagous insects, Xylosandrus compactus (Eichhoff) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a serious threat for several Mediterranean host plants. Carob trees growing in Sicily (Italy) have been extensively attacked by beetles leading to rapid tree decline. Although X. compactus has been found in Europe for several years, most aspects of its ecology are still unknown. We thus studied the population structure and dynamics of X. compactus, together with its twig size preference during a sampling of infested carob trees in south east Sicily. In addition, fungi associated with insects or galleries were isolated and characterized. The results showed that, in this newly-colonized environment and host plant, adult X. compactus overwinters inside twigs and starts to fly and reproduce in mid spring, completing five generations before overwintering in late fall. The mean diameter of carob twigs infested by the beetle varied significantly over the seasons, with the insect tending to infest larger twigs as season progresses. The mean number of adults/gallery was 19.21, ranging from 6 to 28. The minimum temperature significantly affected the overwintering adult mortality. Ambrosiella xylebori and Fusarium solani were the main symbionts associated with the pest in this study. Acremonium sp. was instead recorded for the first time in Europe inside X. compactus galleries. Several other fungi species were also found for the first time in association with X. compactus. Our findings provide useful insights into the sustainable management of this noxious pest.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Antonio Gugliuzzo:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4118-2280

Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: Formal analysisRole: InvestigationRole: MethodologyRole: ValidationRole: VisualizationRole: Writing – original draftRole: Writing – review & editing

Giulio Criscione: Role: Data curationRole: Investigation

Antonio Biondi: Role: Data curationRole: Formal analysisRole: Funding acquisitionRole: VisualizationRole: Writing – review & editing

Dalia Aiello: Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: InvestigationRole: MethodologyRole: ValidationRole: VisualizationRole: Writing – review & editing

Alessandro Vitale: Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: Funding acquisitionRole: InvestigationRole: MethodologyRole: ValidationRole: VisualizationRole: Writing – original draftRole: Writing – review & editing

Giancarlo Polizzi: Role: ConceptualizationRole: MethodologyRole: Project administrationRole: ResourcesRole: SupervisionRole: ValidationRole: VisualizationRole: Writing – review & editing

Giovanna Tropea Garzia:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2161-7021

Role: ConceptualizationRole: Formal analysisRole: Funding acquisitionRole: InvestigationRole: MethodologyRole: Project administrationRole: ResourcesRole: SupervisionRole: ValidationRole: VisualizationRole: Writing – review & editing

Nicolas Desneux: Role: Editor

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): PLoS One

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): PLoS ONE

Journal ID (publisher-id): plos

Journal ID (pmc): plosone

Title: PLoS ONE

Publisher: Public Library of Science (San Francisco, CA USA )

ISSN (Electronic): 1932-6203

Publication date (Electronic): 11 September 2020

Publication date Collection: 2020

Volume: 15

Issue: 9

Electronic Location Identifier: e0239011

Affiliations

[001]Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of Catania, Catania, Italy

Institut Sophia Agrobiotech, FRANCE

Author notes

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

* E-mail: giovanna.tropeagarzia@ 123456unict.it

Author information

Antonio Gugliuzzo https://orcid.org/http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4118-2280

Giovanna Tropea Garzia https://orcid.org/http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2161-7021

Article

Publisher ID: PONE-D-20-14630

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239011

PMC ID: 7485756

PubMed ID: 32915885

SO-VID: 8d933635-502f-4b72-b719-c7abb7b0ac21

License:

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

History

Date received : 16 May 2020

Date accepted : 27 August 2020