Xyleborus perforans (Wollaston)

Beaver, R. A., Sittichaya, W. & Liu, L-Y., 2014, A Synopsis of the Scolytine Ambrosia Beetles of Thailand (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), Zootaxa 3875 (1), pp. 1-82 : 68

150. Xyleborus perforans (Wollaston)

Tomicus perforans Wollaston, 1857: 96 .

Xyleborus perforans (Wollaston) : Eichhoff, 1878b: 403.

Thai distribution: C: Chanthaburi, Kanchanaburi ( Schedl 1962a), Nakhon Nayok, Phetchaburi, Prachuab Khiri Khan; N: Chiang Mai ( Beaver & Browne 1975), Kamphaeng Phet, Lampang ( Beaver & Browne 1975), Mae Hong Son, Nakhon Sawan, Phetchabun, Phitsanulok; N-E: Chaiyaphum, Loei, Nakhon Ratchasima, Sakhon Nakhon, Ubon Ratchathani; S: Chumphon ( Sittichaya & Beaver 2009), Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Phuket ( Beaver & Browne 1975), Surat Thani. The record of Xyleborus torquatus Eichhoff from Kanchanaburi ( Schedl 1962a) is probably also referable to this species (see below).

New records: Almost 600 specimens were collected by participants in the TIGER project in all parts of the country, and nearly 3,500 specimens by Sittichaya et al. (2012) in the South of the country. This is usually the most abundant ambrosia beetle in disturbed areas in both urban and rural environments .

Other distribution: Throughout tropical parts of the Afrotropical, Australian and Oriental regions. Wood and Bright (1992) and Wood (2007) consider it to be absent from the Neotropical region, where it is replaced by Xyleborus volvulus (F.), but the species are doubtfully distinct and appear to overlap. It has been frequently intercepted in imported timber in Europe and other parts of the world. (5)

Biology: Strongly polyphagous (e.g. Browne 1961a, Schedl 1963, Gray & Wylie 1974, Ohno 1990). The biology has been described by Browne (1961a), Schedl (1963) and Kalshoven (1964). The gallery system consists of irregularly branched tunnels, usually in one horizontal plane, but sometimes spreading into three dimensions, and without brood chambers. The species sometimes attacks weakened or injured trees, and can be a minor pest ( Browne 1968), but its attacks are usually secondary. Due to its abundance, the species can be important in the downgrade of recently felled timber. In Thailand, it has been bred in numbers from rubberwood ( Kangkamanee et al. 2011), and also from stressed mango trees (Sittichaya 2012).

Illustrations: P (e.g. Atkinson 2014, Hulcr 2013, PaDIL 2014); D ( Maiti & Saha 2004).