Female fecundity of Aromia bungii (Faldermann) was promoted by coiling peach branches with grafting tape in laboratory experiments because it offered slits for oviposition sites. The toxicity of the ...insecticides was determined by the number of larvae in the inner bark of the peach branches that were treated with the insecticides. Both acetamiprid and cypermethrin were toxic to the beetles. Acetamiprid had high contact toxicity to adults and cypermethrin suppressed oviposition.
The longhorned beetle Aromia bungii (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is a major pest of stone fruit trees in the genus Prunus, including cherries, apricots, and peaches. Its native range includes China, ...Korea, Mongolia, and eastern Russia, but it has recently invaded and become established in several countries in Europe, and Japan, and it has been intercepted in shipments coming into North America and Australia. Here, we report the identification of its male-produced aggregation pheromone as the novel compound (E)-2-cis-6,7-epoxynonenal. In field trials in its native range in China, and in recently invaded areas of Japan, the pheromone attracted both sexes of the beetle. Thus, the pheromone should find immediate use in worldwide quarantine surveillance efforts to detect the beetle in incoming shipments. The pheromone will also be a crucial tool in ongoing efforts to eradicate the beetle from regions of the world that it has already invaded.
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•The red-necked longhorn beetle larva spends pupal stages in a chamber in host trees.•Immature larva accumulates Ca2+ in the Malpighian tubules by feeding on wood tissue.•Ca2+ is ...stored in regions proximal to the gut, within the hind two of the six tubules.•Mature larva forms the pupal chamber with a calcareous entrance-lid in the xylem.•Ca2+ storage in the tubules disappeared in larvae upon completion of pupal chamber.
Cerambycid beetles form a chamber to spend their pupal stages in various forms according to the species. The red-necked longhorn beetle Aromia bungii (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), which is an invasive pest that severely damages Rosaceae trees, makes a pupal chamber at the end of a tunnel deep in the xylem. Beetle larvae and the closely related species form a calcareous lid at the entrance of a pupal chamber. Previous studies on the closely related species conducted more than a century ago suggested that Malpighian tubules (MTs) play a vital role in calcium carbonate accumulation. However, the association between this Ca2+ accumulation and pupal chamber lid formation utilizing the possible calcium compounds stored in MTs have not yet been demonstrated. First, we artificially reared A. bungii larvae from eggs in host branches for 100 days and identified the larval developmental status and pupal chamber formation, using X-ray computed tomography. Second, we collected larvae from the branches and observed the internal organs by direct dissection under a microscope. Finally, we analyzed the elemental distribution, particularly calcium, in the larval gut with MTs, using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence. The results suggest that immature larvae of A. bungii can accumulate Ca2+ in the MTs through wood tunneling and feeding activities. Ca2+ was stored at the proximal regions in two of the six MTs located posteriorly in the body. Additionally, larvae that formed a calcareous lid at the entrance of pupal chambers in the branches did not store Ca2+ in the MTs, suggesting that the larvae of A. bungii used the stored Ca2+ in their MTs for lid formation.
The racemate and the enantiomers of (E)-cis-6,7-epoxy-2-nonenal, the male pheromone of Aromia bungii, were synthesized by olefin cross metathesis between crotonaldehyde and (±)-, (+)- and ...(−)-cis-3,4-epoxy-7-octene. The epoxide was prepared by the Grignard coupling between allylmagnesium bromide and (±)-, (+)- and (−)-cis-2,3-epoxypentyl triflate. (±)-cis-2,3-Epoxy-1-pentanol was prepared by MCPBA epoxidation of (Z)-2-penten-1-ol, while its enantiomers were synthesized by the Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation of the allylic alcohol.
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The control effects of a commercial-grade dinotefuran formulation "Wood-Star" applied via trunk injection against Aromia bungii larvae infestation in Japanese flowering cherry trees were evaluated. ...Twenty test trees were injected with this formulation in late April 2019, and the number of larval frass-excretion-holes with newly ejected frass (hereafter "active frass-holes") in both treated and untreated trees was investigated weekly from April to May in 2019 and 2020. In addition, adult emergence-holes that occurred in 2018, 2019, and 2020 on each tree were counted. The total number of active frass-holes decreased by 21.2% in treated trees and increased by 178.9% in untreated trees within 4 weeks after injection. The insecticidal efficacy of the formulation was estimated as 88.2% based on the decreasing number of active frass-holes in the treated trees. Generalized linear models for the number of active frass-holes and newly occurring emergence holes suggested that dinotefuran treatment decreased the larval activity for at least 4 weeks, resulting in the suppression of emerging adults in the next year of treatment. However, active frass-holes and newly occurring emergence holes were observed in some treated trees in the succeeding year of the treatment. This suggested the possibility that the injection treatment in late April was, at least partially, invalid to control A. bungii larvae that originated from the eggs deposited in the adult reproductive period (June to August) of the treatment year.