Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Newark, Delaware » Beneficial Insects Introduction Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #401428
Research Project: Biology, Ecology, Genetics, and Genomics of Introduced Species for Biological Control of Invasive and Other Insect Pests

Location: Beneficial Insects Introduction Research Unit

Title: Exploration for Asian longhorned beetle parasitoids in Korea using an improved sentinel log trap

Author
item LEE, SEUNGHYUN - Seoul National University
item PARK, DUK-YOUNG - Seoul National University
item Wang, Xingeng
item Duan, Jian
item GOULD, JULI - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
item KIM, IL-KWON - Seoul National University
item LEE, SEUNGHWAN - Seoul National University

Submitted to: Parasite
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/25/2023
Publication Date: 12/12/2023
Citation: Lee, S., Park, D., Wang, X., Duan, J.J., Gould, J.R., Kim, I., Lee, S. 2023. Exploration for Asian longhorned beetle parasitoids in Korea using an improved sentinel log trap. Parasite. 30. https://doi.org/10.1051/parasite/2023062.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/parasite/2023062

Interpretive Summary: Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) is a high-risk invasive pest, attacking various healthy hardwood trees. To develop a biological control program for this pest, we explored for natural enemies of this pest in its native range in South Korea from 2019 to 2022. We developed a new sentinel log trap that effectively attracted ALB adults to lay eggs on the logs to allow its natural enemies (parasitic wasps) to attack the eggs. We found only one very rare parasitic wasp species. This suggests that future exploration for ALB natural enemies should focus on discovering other types of biological control agents such as those attacking the beetle larvae.

Technical Abstract: The Asianlonghorned beetle (ALB), Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), is a destructive invasive woodboring insect pest, and efforts are being made to find parasitoids for ALB biological control. Through a four-year survey in Korea using a sentinel log trap associated with host chemical cues potentially important for host finding by parasitoids, two parasitoid species were discovered attacking ALB. One species is Spathius ibarakius Belokobylskij & Maetô, which is known to also parasitize citrus longhorned beetle, Anoplophora chinensis (Forster). The other parasitoid species, whose offspring were dead before imago, could not be morphologically identified at the adult stage. We attempted molecular and morphological identification of the larvae/pupae of the unidentified parasitoid; however, only superfamily-level identification was possible. The parasitism rate recovered in the logs was 0.3% by the unidentified parasitoid in Gapyeong-gun in 2019, while it reached 29.2% by S. ibarakius in Busan city in 2022. Future efforts for exploring ALB natural enemies in the pest’s native range may focus on parasitoids with high parasitism rates.