Occurrence of Scolytinae in mangrove with impact trap and in wood of five forest species

Abstract

Scolytinae is a beetle group belonging to Order Coleoptera; these insects play an essential role in wood degradation in forest ecosystems, since they build galleries that enable substrate colonization by other saprophytic organisms, as well as nutrient cycling. Thus, the aim of the current study was to evaluate the occurrence of Scolytinae in the wood of 5 tree species exposed to mangrove environment, as well as to simultaneously survey Scolytinae specimens captured in ethanol-baited impact traps placed in the same environment. The study was carried out in a mangrove area located in Santa Cruz neighborhood - RJ. Five freshly-harvested Clitoria fairchildiana, Rhyzophora mangle, Corymbia citriodora, Melia azedarach and Eucalyptus pellita wood logs (1 m long and 5-10 cm diameter) were arranged perpendicular to the ground (1 m above it) and spaced 30 cm away from each other. Five impact traps were set up 50 m away from each other, 1.3 m above the ground. Insects were collected for 5 months. One hundred and thirty (130) Scolytinae individuals (14 species in 2 genera) were recorded in the wood logs; the relative frequency (Fr) of the species comprised Xyleborus affinis (33.9%) and Hypothenemus sp.4 (17.7%), which represented 51.6% of the total number of captured individuals. Hypothenemus sp.6 specimens were not collected in ethanol-baited traps, but the wood of C. fairchildiana. E. pellita did not show insect infestation. The traps captured 798 individuals (24 species belonging to 8 genera); the frequency of X. affinis (25.3%) and Hypothenemus eruditus (14.5%) represented 39.8% of the total number of captured insects.