AMBROSIA BEETLES (SCOLYTIDAE: Coleoptera) can be
important pests of nursery production. Adult beetles
bore into trees, excavate a gallery that may consist of
one to several tunnels and a brood chamber, and then
introduce a symbiotic fungus (i.e., ambrosia), which
serves as food for adults and larvae (Baker and Norris
1968; Weber and McPherson 1984; Roeper 1996). During
entry into trees, ambrosia beetles often inoculate
trees with additional pathogenic fungi (Kessler 1974;
Anderson and Hoffard 1978) or bacteria (Hall et al.
1982). For example, under controlled conditions, Xylosandrus
germanus Blandford was capable of Dutch
elmdisease pathogen transmission (Buchanan 1941).
Beetle larvae complete their development in the tree,
and female progeny exit the tree to begin anewgallery
(Weber and McPherson 1983).
Due to the cryptic nature of scolytids, ambrosia and
bark beetles often are transported fromone region
to another in trees or wood products. Many of the
ambrosia beetle species that currently occur in the