First report of Heterobostrychus hamatipennis in Belgium
In Belgium, the presence of unknown xylophagous beetles was observed in a sample of osier willow (unspecified Salix sp.) in July 2005. The insect was identified as Heterobostrychus hamatipennis (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae). Braided objects made with the infested osier willow had been imported from China (Qingdao) in October 2004, and then stored. It was only in July 2005, that the owner of this consignment noticed sawdust and presence of boring insects inside the osier stems. This is the first record of H. hamatipennis in Europe and this discovery was notified to the Belgian authorities (i.e. to AFSCA ‘Agence Fédérale pour la Sécurité de la Chaîne Alimentaire’).
Both adults and larvae of H. hamatipennis are xylophagous. H. hamatipennis is considered as a polyphagous species which feeds on dry wood (dunnage, packing wood, plywood and other wood products including furniture), and probably on dead trees. It is also recorded as a minor pest of bamboos. H. hamatipennis is an Asian species recorded in China, India, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Madagascar, and Mauritius. It has been intercepted on logs in Korea Republic. In other parts of the world, specimens of H. hamatipennis were collected in 2003 from a dead branch of a mango tree on Oahu, Hawaii (US). In insect collections, it is mentioned in North Carolina and Florida before 1988, but has probably not established there. Canada intercepted H. hamatipennis on wood and furniture from Asia in 1997/98. Apart from these records, there is very little information on this species in the literature. The EPPO Secretariat has contacted scientists in China, but H. hamatipennis is apparently there a minor pest not deserving particular studies. A related species H. aequalis is better documented.
Sources
Note by Dr C. Fassotte, 2005-07. ‘Première observation en Belgique et en Europe de l’espèce exotique Heterobostrychus hamatipennis (Lesne, 1895) (Coleoptera Bostrychidae) sur de l’osier’.
Département Lutte biologique et Ressources phytogénétiques du Centre wallon de Recherches Agronomiques, Gembloux, Belgique.
Other sources :
Choo HY, Woo KS, Lee CK (1983) Classification of the Bostrichidae intercepted from imported timbers II. Korean Journal of Plant Protection, 22(1), 30-33 (abst.)
INTERNET
Canadian Food Inspection Agency web site. 1997-1998 Entomology
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/francais/sci/lab/cpqp/9798entf.shtml
Hawaii agricultural gateway. Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s Annual Report (2003.)
http://www.hawaiiag.org/hdoa/leg2004/Annual%20Report%20FY03%20Text.PDF
International network for bamboo and rattan. Insect pests of bamboos by H. Wang, RV Varma, T. Xu. http://www.inbar.int/publication/txt/tr13/POSTright.htm
Museum of Entomology. Florida State Collection of arthropods Gainesville. Beetles of Florida