Timberman - Acanthocinus aedilis (L.)
From Bugwoodwiki
From: Kolk A., Starzyk J. R., 1996: The Atlas of Forest Insect Pests (Atlas skodliwych owadów lesnych) - Multico Warszawa, 705 pages. Original publication in Polish. English translation provided by Dr. Lidia Sukovata and others under agreement with The Polish Forest Research Institute.
Occurrence: Europe, Siberia, Caucasian Mountains, Korea, Mongolia, the northern China.
Host plants: The Scots pine, rarely other pine species, sporadically other conifers.
Morphology: Adults are 12-24 mm long, grayish-brown, flat and wide. There are 4 yellowish spots located in a line across pronotum. Pronotum is with a spine on each side. Elytrae are with two unclear dark bands across. Antennae of males are 3 to 5 times longer than body, while those of females - 1.5-2 times. Females have a long, well seen ovipositor. Eggs are white, elongated, 3 x 0.75 mm in size. Larvae are legless, yellowish-white, slightly flattened, 4 cm long. The backside of its pronotum is with two yellow spots. Pupae are yellowish-white, up to 20 mm (males) or 24 mm (females) long.
Biology: Adults overwinter in pupal chambers under the bark or in litter. They are active from late-March through early-June. Females lay single eggs into bark crevices or in funnel holes chewed in the bark. After hatching, larvae feed under the bark. Their galleries are irregular, directed rather along the fiber, several centimeters long and up to 3 cm wide. First they are filled with shredded bark, later with white wood chips. After 4 month development, larvae pupate in pupal chambers constructed in the wood (if the bark is thin), under or sometime in the bark (if the bark is thick). Adults emerge 15-20 days after pupation through oval exit holes of about 6-8 x 3-4 mm in size.
Damage: A. aedilis infests heavily weakened trees, stumps and windthrows. It kills weekened and dying trees. When sanitary conditions in woodlands are low, this species may become an important technical pest causing high damage of wood. Larvae excavating galleries under the bark cause the tree death, and while constructing pupal chambers they lower timber value. A. aedilis is abundant in stands weakened by pollution, defoliators and root pathogens. This species prefers the lower part of stems with the thick bark.
Preventive measures: Removal of the potential breeding material before 20th of March, debarking of stumps.
Control: Removal of infested trees in May-June. The use of trap trees is also recommended. There should be one trap per 5-10 ha of infested stands, 3-5 traps per ha of heavily infested stands, and 3-5 traps per every 100 m of the edge of the forest that surrounds a timber yard. Traps should be debarked from 5th to 25th of May. Debarking should be started from traps that are the most exposed to sunshine and where larval development is the fastest. In heavily infested stands all stumps remaining after cutting operation should be debarked.
 Photo by Robert Dzwonkowski, , Bugwood.org |  Photo by Stanislaw Kinelski, , Bugwood.org |
 Photo by Stanislaw Kinelski, , Bugwood.org |  Photo by Stanislaw Kinelski, , Bugwood.org |
 Photo by Stanislaw Kinelski, , Bugwood.org |
