Urban Timber Pest Beetles: Risks and Management - Urban Insect Pests: Sustainable Management Strategies - page 155

regrowth or managed forests (Creffi eld et
al ., 1995; Cookson et al ., 2009).

analysed the pattern of exit holes in wood
cut prints and blocks and was able to trace
the historic human-assisted beetle distri-
bution in Europe centuries earlier. Follett
and Neven (2006) reviewed current trends
in quarantine entomology and Bashford
(2012) described the use of baits around a
port to detect invasive timber beetles.

Timber Pest Beetles Around the
Globe

Timber pest beetles range over most areas of
human habitation but those areas with
reliable warmth and moisture are at greatest
risk. Their distribution is limited by
available food, moisture and the factors of
extremes of heat and cold. The common
pest species generally become rare in the
colder regions (approximately 40 to 50
degrees north or south), but even at 61
degrees north have been recorded damaging
structures (Knudsen, 1967). There are a few
notable tramp species. Lyctus brunneus
(powder post beetle) and Anobium punc-
tatum (furniture beetle) are the best known
global pests. Thus it is important to have
both a global and local perspective when
assessing the risks present in a bioregion
that typically includes both native and
introduced species.
In general the risk of beetle induced
damage and the speed of damage is greatest
in the tropics (Littlemore, 1958). Histori-
cally, the manner of timber use affects the
risk of attack, with examples of Hylotrupes
bajulus in England and the Anobium
punctatum in New Zealand (locally called
the house borer) (Watt, 1983). It is also
worth noting that many species of timber
pest beetles are native fauna or are taxo-
nomically related to native beetles with
conservation value (Ulyshen, 2012).
Pest beetle are commonly transported
across countries in wood (Haack et al .,
2010; Jacobi et al ., 2012; Misser, 2013),
shipping containers (Stanaway et al ., 2001),
sawn timber (Roques 2007), furniture
(Cocquempot and Lindelöw, 2010) and
timber packing (Australian Government
DAFF, 2004). Samples presented for identifi -
cation, especially from imported furniture,
may be locally unknown. For example,
Cymorek (1978) identifi ed the uncommon
Australian lyctid, Lyctus parallelocollis , in
plywood in Israel. In an interesting study of
pest species dispersal, Hedges (2013)

Timber Borers

The essential step in the infestation by
timber boring beetles is the selection of a
suitable food substrate by the female beetle
before she lays her eggs. Two factors domin-
ate in this selection. Firstly, the timber
generally has to pass a taste test (Kartika
and Yoshimura, 2013) and secondly, to have
surface cavities where the eggs can be
placed below the surface. Egg laying may be
in rough exposed end grain, splits or as in
the case of Lyctus brunneus nearly always
into the exposed vessel elements of
hardwood. The ambrosia beetles infesting
standing trees are unusual in that, rather
than using existing cavities, the female
typically excavates a complex tunnel into
which the eggs are placed.

Beetle damage present in sawn
timber

Scars from the activity of beetles that feed
on live trees or standing dead trees are
often visible in sawn timber. Ambrosia
beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae, Platy-
podinae) are a polyphyletic group that
attack sickly or dying trees, mostly
hardwoods, inoculating them with a fungus
on which they then feed. The fungal
association enables a wide range of host
trees to be exploited by the beetles and
appears to have evolved several times
(Hulcr et al ., 2007). The association also
involves a variety of fungi (Kasson et al .,
2013) and some type of social behaviour is
also demonstrated (Kirkendall et al ., 1997;
Biedermann and Taborsky, 2011). The
nutritional dependence on live fungi means
that these beetles cannot survive in timbers