identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
03AFB413E75E8E23D0ADF811FCB7B91B.text	03AFB413E75E8E23D0ADF811FCB7B91B.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Squamura Heylaerts 1890	<div><p>Symptoms of Squamura damage in host trees</p><p>Thirty trees of each species from from which Squamura adults were reared were selected to investigate the morphology and distribution of tunnels within the bark and sapwood. Trunk and branch surfaces were examined to locate the number of tunnel entrances and document their length and diameter. To describe chambers, the bark or sapwood around larval and pupal chambers was carefully sectioned and opened. To characterize chambers inside the branches, damaged branches of each tree were removed and dissected (one branch per pest species per tree).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03AFB413E75E8E23D0ADF811FCB7B91B	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Tra, Tran Thi Le;Yakovlev, Roman V.;Anh, Chung Nhu;Chi, Nguyen Minh	Tra, Tran Thi Le, Yakovlev, Roman V., Anh, Chung Nhu, Chi, Nguyen Minh (2025): Larvae of Squamura spp. (Lepidoptera: Cossoidea: Metarbelidae) damaging urban trees in Vietnam. Ecologica Montenegrina 88: 280-289, DOI: 10.37828/em.2025.88.20, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2025.88.20
03AFB413E75D8E23D0ADFA03FB29BF04.text	03AFB413E75D8E23D0ADFA03FB29BF04.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Squamura disciplaga Swinhoe 1901	<div><p>Squamura disciplaga Swinhoe, 1901</p><p>Female (n = 12; Fig. 2a, b): Body whitish-grey with black spots, approximately 18–22 mm in length. Antennae bipectinate. Head and thorax covered with black piliform scales. Forewing length 33–40 mm, grayish white with scattered greyish-black shading, particularly along basal posterior margin and medially as a transverse band, and a dark trapezoid spot near central costal region, black spots along outer margin at each venin, and scattered along costal margin. Hindwing grayish white with some marginal spots. The edges of the forewing and hindwing with some black dots. Abdomen white with black scales predominant on anterior and posterior segments.</p><p>Male (n = 10): 10–15% smaller than females. Characteristics of the head, thorax, forewing, and hindwing as for female.</p><p>Larva: Head black, body dark brown until grey final instar. Larva devoid of secondary body setae, but with long lateral primary setae. Final instar length 46–58 mm, width 6–7 mm (Fig. 2c).</p><p>Pupa: Cylindrical, initially light brown then dark brown with grey or black head. Length 30–39 mm, width 5.6–6.9 mm (Fig. 2d). Male pupae 15–20% smaller than female pupae.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03AFB413E75D8E23D0ADFA03FB29BF04	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Tra, Tran Thi Le;Yakovlev, Roman V.;Anh, Chung Nhu;Chi, Nguyen Minh	Tra, Tran Thi Le, Yakovlev, Roman V., Anh, Chung Nhu, Chi, Nguyen Minh (2025): Larvae of Squamura spp. (Lepidoptera: Cossoidea: Metarbelidae) damaging urban trees in Vietnam. Ecologica Montenegrina 88: 280-289, DOI: 10.37828/em.2025.88.20, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2025.88.20
03AFB413E75D8E22D0ADF80CFB84BCF9.text	03AFB413E75D8E22D0ADF80CFB84BCF9.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Squamura maculata Heylaerts 1890	<div><p>Squamura maculata Heylaerts, 1890</p><p>Female (n = 18; Fig. 3a, b): Body light brown, length 19–23 mm. Antennae bipectinate, light brown. Head and thorax brownish-white covered with with scattered dark brown scales. Forewing length 35– 41 mm. Forewing greyish-white to whitish-brown with scattered dark brown spots and prominent trapezoid black spot, and dark brown veins. Hindwing greyish-white towards costa, otherwise brownish-white with dark brown veins and irregular transverse markings and outer marginal spots at each vein. Abdomen greyish-white with scattered dark brown scales, particularly for posterior segments.</p><p>Male (n = 13): 13-16% larger than female, colour and pattern as for female.</p><p>Larva: Head dark brown or black, body grey, gradually darker in succeeding instars, finally dark grey in the pre-pupal instar (Fig. 3c). Body devoid of secondary body setae, but with long lateral primary setae. Final instar body length 50–60 mm, width 6–7 mm.</p><p>Pupa: Cylindrical, initially light brown, darkening to brown with dark brown head. Length 21– 33 mm, width 5–6 mm (Fig. 3d). Male pupae 15–18% smaller than female.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03AFB413E75D8E22D0ADF80CFB84BCF9	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Tra, Tran Thi Le;Yakovlev, Roman V.;Anh, Chung Nhu;Chi, Nguyen Minh	Tra, Tran Thi Le, Yakovlev, Roman V., Anh, Chung Nhu, Chi, Nguyen Minh (2025): Larvae of Squamura spp. (Lepidoptera: Cossoidea: Metarbelidae) damaging urban trees in Vietnam. Ecologica Montenegrina 88: 280-289, DOI: 10.37828/em.2025.88.20, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2025.88.20
03AFB413E75C8E28D0ADF8E6FB4EBAEE.text	03AFB413E75C8E28D0ADF8E6FB4EBAEE.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Squamura Heylaerts 1890	<div><p>Symptoms of Squamura damage on Bauhinia variegata and Dipterocarpus alatus trees</p><p>Squamura maculata was found in both B. variegata and D. alatus, while S. disciplaga was present only in D. alatus (Fig. 4). Damage from both species is characterized by large lesions on the trunks or branches. Silk-lined galleries on the bark were filled with faecal pellets and silk of larvae. Numerous galleries were found from the base of the trunk to the canopy.</p><p>Damage symptoms of the two cossids showed distinctive differences (Table 1). The most obvious difference is that S. disciplaga only damages the bark (Fig. 4a–d), while S. maculata consumes bark and wood beneath (Fig. 4e–k). Larvae feed singly, each within its individual silk-lined gallery and can move quickly when disturbed. Larvae remain within the gallery cover during the entire feeding period (Fig. 4a, b, f, h, k). Galleries expand over time until they reach a maximum diameter of 0.8–1.0 cm. Pupation occured 25 March to 10 April, followed by eclosion 15 April to 2 May. Adult emergence occurred in the late afternoon, with a 1:1 sex ratio. The life cycle information indicates that the pests cause damage once annually. Although tree mortality has not been recorded, the feeding wounds significantly impact the growth and quality of the plants resulting in yellow, underdeveloped foliage and many feeding wounds (Fig. 4d) that reduce the aesthetic value of urban trees.</p><p>Damage index and damage severity</p><p>Damage caused by the two species was more severe in Hanoi than in Dak Lak. Damage incidence (P%) of S. disciplaga in D. alatus trees in Hanoi was 68.1% and 56.3% in Dak Lak; and the damage severity (R%) was 39.5% and 25.7%, respectively (Table 2). Damage from S. maculata was higher in B. variegata than in D. alatus with P% of 25.8–39.3% and R% of 16.8–28.6%. The damage incidence and damage severity of this pest in D. alatus trees was 11.9–13.5% and 6.5–6.8%, respectively (Table 2).</p><p>Note: n = 100 for Bauhinia variegata and n = 200 for Dipterocarpus alatus; NA is no data, values are means with SE</p><p>Discussion</p><p>This is the first report of Squamura disciplaga damaging Dipterocarpus alatus, and S. maculata damaging Bauhinia variegata and D. alatus trees. Both species concurrently attack D. alatus, but their infestations can be distinguished by the different larval feeding locations. Squamura disciplaga is a recognized pest of Annona muricata in Vietnam (Nga et al. 2005); Hura crepitans and Polyalthia longifolia (Chung et al. 2010; Ong and Sajap 2022), Khaya senegalensis (Chung 2011; Ong and Sajap 2022), Adinobotrys atropurpureus, Casuarina equisetifolia and Pithecellobium dulce (Lee 2013) in Malaysia; and fruit trees such as Durio zibethinus and Nephelium lappaceum (Mani 2022) . In addition, S. maculata has been recorded as a pest on Persea americana (Geddes 1992), Albizzia spp., Citrus spp., Delonix spp., Mangifera spp., Nephelium spp. and Theobroma spp. (Yakovlev and Zolotuhin 2020) in Indonesia. Although the two metarbelid borers have been recorded on many host plants, there is little detailed description of their larval and pupal morphologies, and damage symptoms and severity on individual host plants are not well documented. The observation in this study that S. disciplaga only damages the bark while S. maculata damages both the bark and sapwood of trunks and branches will facilitate recognition and identification of these pests in plantations, urban and rural settings in SE Asia.</p><p>Vietnamese forestry managers and scientists have focused on species that are recognized as a severe threat to forest health and productivity, including ambrosia beetles in Acacia plantations (Hung et al. 2022), Batocera lineolata (Quang et al. 2022a), Endoclita spp. (Buchsbaum et al. 2022; Pham et al. 2024) in Eucalyptus plantations, Hypsipyla robusta (Chi et al. 2023) and Zeuzera coffeae (Phuong et al. 2025) in Chukrasia tabularis plantations. Although there are records of metarbelid borers of forest trees, no attention has been given to their management even though S. disciplaga is known to be a serious pest on A. muricata in southern Vietnam (Nga et al. 2005). Our study shows that the impacts of Squamura pecies may be extensive in urban environments.</p><p>Management of the two metarbelid borers will be imperative as local knowledge by foresters and urban planners suggest their populations have increased rapidly over recent years. In this study it was observed that approximately 15% of S. disciplaga larvae were parasitized by a wasp species in the family Elasmidae . Nga et al. (2006) recorded two natural enemies of S. disciplaga including Macrocentrus sp. ( Braconidae) and Solenopsis geminate ( Formicidae).</p><p>The Vietnamese government's strategy for forestry development set a target to reforest an area of about 5,000 hectares annually, using native tree species (Vietnam 2021), of which D. alatus is one of the main candidates (MARD 2014). The two metarbelid borers are polyphagous, having a wide range of host plants that could result in high population densities and persistence.</p><p>Manual elimination methods, used in species such as Kamalia priapus in Homalium ceylanicum trees (Danh et al. 2024) or Aetherastis grandisalba in Cinnamomum cassia trees (Quang et al. 2022b) where the larvae or pupae are located on the outside of the bark, is not feasible for Squamura species as larvae retreat into their tunnels inside the trunk, branch or bark as soon as they sense danger. Previous studies suggest the injection of pesticides such as dichlorvos, chlorpyrifos and quinalphos into tunnels (Mani 2022) may be worth exploring, but risks of environmental contamination need to be considered. Alternatively, the use of biological agents such as Bacillus spp. Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae should be evaluated as promising results have been obtained with the shoot-tip borer Hypsipyla robusta (Tra et al. 2022; Chi et al. 2023), the longhorn beetle Batocera lineolata (Quang et al. 2022a) and the stem borer Neurozerra conferta (Chi et al. 2022) in Vietnam.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>In Hanoi and the Central Highlands of Vietnam, Bauhinia variegata in urban areas have suffered considerable damage by Squamura maculata, and Dipterocarpus alatus trees have widely damaged by S. disciplaga and S. maculata . Damage from these two metarbelid borers is compromising the growth and quality of urban trees.</p><p>Acknowledgments</p><p>The authors would like to thank the Tay Nguyen University for sponsoring this work, and local governments for their support in collecting samples. The authors would like to thank Professor Emeritus Bernard Dell for his suggestions, revisions, and English language editing.</p><p>Conflict of interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest.</p><p>References</p><p>Buchsbaum, U., Grehan, J.R., Chen, M.Y., Chi, N.M., Pham, D.L., Khai, T.Q., Jones, L.D., Ignatev, N. (2022) New species of Endoclita (C. and. R. Felder, 1874) and first record of E. salvazi from Vietnam (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Hepialidae). Vernate, 41, 267-286.</p><p>Chi, N.M., Huong, V.D., Pham, D.L., Binh, L.V., Luu, N.V., Ha, K.M., Loi, V.V., Yakovlev, R.V. (2022) Neurozerra conferta (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) damaging Melaleuca plantations in Vietnam and its biological control. Ecologica Montenegrina, 60, 13-24.</p><p>https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2022.60.3</p><p>Chi, N.M., Pham, D.L., Nhung, N.P., Hoa, N.T.H.H., Do, T.T., Tra, T.T.L., Loi, V.V., Thuy, P.T.T., Hai, N.D., Tuan, D.X., Thu, P.Q., Dell, B. 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Ecologica Montenegrina, 38, 84-101.</p><p>https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2020.38.11</p><p>Yen, N.T., Ha, D.V., Doi, B.T. (2020) Research on propagation of seed and growth of Bauhinia variegata L. at the nursery. Journal of Forestry Science and Technology, 2, 21-27.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03AFB413E75C8E28D0ADF8E6FB4EBAEE	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Tra, Tran Thi Le;Yakovlev, Roman V.;Anh, Chung Nhu;Chi, Nguyen Minh	Tra, Tran Thi Le, Yakovlev, Roman V., Anh, Chung Nhu, Chi, Nguyen Minh (2025): Larvae of Squamura spp. (Lepidoptera: Cossoidea: Metarbelidae) damaging urban trees in Vietnam. Ecologica Montenegrina 88: 280-289, DOI: 10.37828/em.2025.88.20, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2025.88.20
