FABI Researchers Study Fungi Associated with Pine Bark Beetles in South Africa

For many years, FABI researchers have actively studied the fungi associated with conifer infesting bark and ambrosia beetles in South Africa and elsewhere in the world.  As part of a new initiative to gain a better understanding of these fungi in South Africa, FABI’s Dr Nam Pham, Nomaswazi Maseko, together with MSc student Nadia Gürtel, recently established pine log and pheromone traps in SAPPI’s Ngodwana plantation. The traps were established with the assistance of SAPPI’s Prof. Jolanda Roux (who has an extraordinary appointment in  FABI), Katharine Spencer and Thembela Lulane.

The traps set up to target the pine bark beetles Orthotomicus erosus, Hylurgus ligniperda, Hylastes angustatusand Cyrtogenius luteus. The intention is to collect beetles both from their galleries constructed in the log traps and during their dispersal in search of new pine hosts. The work follows a recent pest alert concerning the first record of C. luteus in South African pine plantations and forms part of Nadia Gürtel’s Master’s research.

Relatively limited research has been conducted on the fungi associated with pine bark beetles in the Southern Hemisphere. This new study forms part of a broader suite of projects, including ongoing collaboration with researchers from the Croatian Forest Research Institute, aimed at comparing the fungal associates of these beetles in their native and introduced ranges. The research will explore the extent to which fungal communities overlap among beetle species, their patterns of dispersal and how their diversity differs between their native and non-native environments.

Source: FABI

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