Demian F Gómez

Texas A&M Forest Service · Forest Health

Bark and ambrosia beetles (Scolytinae) are the most successful group of invasive wood borers worldwide, and the most invasive among them are species in the tribe Xyleborini. This haplodiploid, highly inbred, fungus-farming group is represented by 30 non-native species in North America, of which at least five are serious pests. The few identificatio...

The increasing forested area in Uruguay facilitates the establishment of exotic bark and ambrosia beetles. In 2009, the first infestation of bark beetles was officially recorded. The outbreak included Hylurgus ligniperda, Cyrtogenius luteus and Orthotomicus erosus. The objective of this study was to describe and compare the seasonal flight activity...

The occurrence of the exotic " granulate ambrosia beetle " Xylosandrus crassiusculus (Motschulsky) in Argentina and Uruguay is reported for the first time, documenting expansion in South America. Morphological characters are provided to allow distinction of this species from other similar ambrosia beetles. Molecular identification was also done on...

The growth of international trade, coupled with an expansion of large-scale pine plantations in South America during the second half of the twentieth century, has significantly increased the opportunities for the invasion of forest insects. Bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) are a large and diverse group of insects, commonly recog...

The growth of international trade, coupled with an expansion of large-scale pine plantations in South America during the second half of the 20th century, has significantly increased the opportunities for invasion of forest insects. Bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) are a large and diverse group of insects, commonly recognized as...

We report the presence of the invasive ambrosia beetle, Euwallacea fornicatus (Eichhoff, 1868), for the first time in South America. The identity is established by morphological and molecular methods, although the sequences suggest that it represents a separate haplotype from the populations that have caused significant damage in South Africa, Isra...

The plantation and natural forests of South America have been highly impacted by native and exotic pests in recent decades. The interaction of emerging invasive pests, climate change, and timber markets will define the region's forests, with significant but uncertain ecological changes and economic losses expected. The Southern Cone Forest Health G...

Accurate species delimitation is an important component of pest management. The Euwallacea fornicatus species complex (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) includes a series of morphologically similar forest pests that cause huge economic losses both in invaded regions and in the native region. The current hypothesis about the species complex pos...

The southern pine beetle (SPB), Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann, has been the most economically important forest insect in the pine timber industry in the southern United States. From 1960 through 1990, the bark beetle caused economic losses estimated at $900 million (Price et al. 1992). From 1998 to 2002, a four-year outbreak in the southern App...

This protocol describes the different methods to collect and preserve bark and ambrosia beetles, detailing collecting tools, recording relevant data, and optimizing step-by-step methods to extract beetles from twigs, branches, bark, and trunks. It elaborates on trapping techniques, tools, lures, baits, and beetle preservation. The main rule of manu...

This datasheet on Euwallacea fornicatus covers Identity, Overview, Distribution, Dispersal, Hosts/Species Affected, Diagnosis, Biology & Ecology, Natural Enemies, Impacts, Prevention/Control, Further Information.

This datasheet on Euwallacea perbrevis covers Identity, Overview, Distribution, Dispersal, Hosts/Species Affected, Diagnosis, Biology & Ecology, Natural Enemies, Impacts, Prevention/Control, Further Information.

Several ambrosia beetles are invasive pests able to attack and kill live trees, but most species established in non-native areas do not cause any documented impact. Here we report the recent invasion and rapid spread of Ambrosiodmus minor and its fungal associate Flavodon subulatus in the Southeastern US. We used a combination of a multi-year surve...

Ambrosiodmus minor is an invasive ambrosia beetle in the southeastern United States, including Florida. It is considered of low importance because evident economic or ecological impacts have not been observed. However, it is associated with a unique ambrosia fungus, Flavodon subulatus, which causes rapid wood rot. Wood decay caused by this associat...

A bstract This project tested a public-science approach to the assessment of freshwater habitat quality via simple invertebrate sampling. We combined a mobile phone application and simple instruction to children to sample 50 ponds in Central Czechia, and we analyzed the data using a standard ecological statistics approach. Despite the limitation in...

This protocol describes the different methods to collect and preserve bark ambrosia beetles. This protocol is part of the Bark Beetle Mycobiome (BBM) Research Coordination Network. For more information on the BBM international network: Hulcr J, Barnes I, De Beer ZW, Duong TA, Gazis R, Johnson AJ, Jusino MA, Kasson MT, Li Y, Lynch S, Mayers C, Musvu...

Research Highlights: Sentinel-2 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) products show greater potential to detect indications of disturbance by bark beetles in the southeastern US than Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), as the high spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the southeastern forest land prevents its deployment at the...

This protocol describes the different media for fungal culturing. This protocol is part of the Bark Beetle Mycobiome (BBM) Research Coordination Network. For more information on the BBM international network: Hulcr J, Barnes I, De Beer ZW, Duong TA, Gazis R, Johnson AJ, Jusino MA, Kasson MT, Li Y, Lynch S, Mayers C, Musvuugwa T, Roets F, Seltmann K...

This protocol describes how to hand-carry live fungi through airport customs into the United States for the UF Forest Entomology Lab. This protocol is part of the Bark Beetle Mycobiome (BBM) Research Coordination Network. For more information on the BBM international network: Hulcr J, Barnes I, De Beer ZW, Duong TA, Gazis R, Johnson AJ, Jusino MA,...

This protocol describes how to run electrophoresis gels at the UF Forest Entomology Lab. This protocol is part of the Bark Beetle Mycobiome (BBM) Research Coordination Network. For more information on the BBM international network: Hulcr J, Barnes I, De Beer ZW, Duong TA, Gazis R, Johnson AJ, Jusino MA, Kasson MT, Li Y, Lynch S, Mayers C, Musvuugwa...

This protocol explains the process of taking high quality photos of bark and ambrosia beetles, creating the image stacks, and processing the images in image editing software (Gimp or Photoshop). This protocol is part of the Bark Beetle Mycobiome (BBM) Research Coordination Network. For more information on the BBM international network: Hulcr J, Bar...

This protocol describes the primers used for bark beetles and associated fungi. This protocol is part of the Bark Beetle Mycobiome (BBM) Research Coordination Network. For more information on the BBM international network: Hulcr J, Barnes I, De Beer ZW, Duong TA, Gazis R, Johnson AJ, Jusino MA, Kasson MT, Li Y, Lynch S, Mayers C, Musvuugwa T, Roets...

This protocol describes surface-sterilization or surface-cleaing techniques for the beetles before the microbe isolation. This protocol is part of the Bark Beetle Mycobiome (BBM) Research Coordination Network. For more information on the BBM international network: Hulcr J, Barnes I, De Beer ZW, Duong TA, Gazis R, Johnson AJ, Jusino MA, Kasson MT, L...

This protocol describes how to rear bark and ambrosia beetles in naturally infested wood. This protocol is part of the Bark Beetle Mycobiome (BBM) Research Coordination Network. For more information on the BBM international network: Hulcr J, Barnes I, De Beer ZW, Duong TA, Gazis R, Johnson AJ, Jusino MA, Kasson MT, Li Y, Lynch S, Mayers C, Musvuugw...

The purpose of this protocol is to conduct general assembly and alignment of sequences in Geneious. This protocol is part of the Bark Beetle Mycobiome (BBM) Research Coordination Network. For more information on the BBM international network: Hulcr J, Barnes I, De Beer ZW, Duong TA, Gazis R, Johnson AJ, Jusino MA, Kasson MT, Li Y, Lynch S, Mayers C...

This protocol describes the different methods to collect and preserve bark ambrosia beetles. This protocol is part of the Bark Beetle Mycobiome (BBM) Research Coordination Network. For more information on the BBM international network: Hulcr J, Barnes I, De Beer ZW, Duong TA, Gazis R, Johnson AJ, Jusino MA, Kasson MT, Li Y, Lynch S, Mayers C, Musvu...

To mitigate the movement of non-native organisms with trade, phytosanitary systems have been implemented within and between countries. In some countries such as Cuba, little is known about the within-state plant health system. To facilitate the development of future trade partnership between Cuba and the United States, agencies need to understand t...

Several European and Mediterranean species of pine bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) have become established in North America and the southern hemisphere, posing a novel threat to planted and naturally-occurring pine forests. Our objectives were to investigate (1) the occurrence and relative abundance of pine bark beetles in thes...

Early detection of potential threats relies on solid knowledge of exotic species and potential pathways of introduction. Here we provide a review of potential pest bark and ambrosia beetles recorded from Cuba but not present in the USA. Highlighted are genera which contain species known to have caused significant economic damage. This information i...

Although present United States (U.S.) policy restricts very nearly all Cuban commercial exports to the U.S., there is potential for the restrictions to be relaxed or perhaps even lifted at some point in the future. In light of the potential increased trade with Cuba, the potential arrival of invasive species such as bark beetles and ambrosia beetle...

Outbreaks of the southern pine beetle (SPB) Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann in Central America have had a devastating impact on pine forests. It remains unclear to what extent these outbreaks are caused by the beetle’s ecology, climate, and historical management practices. Using research data and experience accumulated in northern latitudes to gu...

We present a reassessment of the diversity of bark and ambrosia beetles in Cuba. For the first time in decades, an official Cuban-American binational collaboration allowed us to re-visit all known entomology collections in Cuba, and collect in the field. There are at least 94 species of scolytine beetles in Cuba. We report a new species, Xylosandru...

Several invasive bark beetle species have caused major economic and ecological losses in South America. Accurate predictions of beetle emergence times will make control efforts more efficient and effective. To determine whether bark beetle emergence can be predicted by season, temperature, or precipitation, we analyzed trapping records for three in...

Le Coléoptère Dynastide Enema pan (F., 1775) appartenant à la tribu des Oryctini (Scarabaeidae) est formellement signalé ici pour la première fois de l’Uruguay, ce qui représente la présence la plus méridionale connue pour cette espèce néotropicale. Bothynus striatellus (Fairmaire, 1878) appartenant à la tribu des Pentodontini est répertorié pour l...

Ambrosia beetles of the Euwallacea fornicatus (Eichhoff, 1868) species complex are emerging tree pests, responsible for significant damage to orchards and ecosystems around the world. The species complex comprises seven described species, all of which are nearly identical. Given that the morphology-defined species boundaries have been ambiguous, hi...

Species within the Euwallacea fornicatus (Eichhoff) species complex are one of the few ambrosia beetles that infest healthy plants and are a potential phytosanitary threat as it causes considerable damage to many tree species in its native and introduced distribution. We updated the list to 412 plant species in 75 families that are known hosts for...

Thaumastocoris peregrinus Carpintero & Dellapé (Heteroptera: Thaumastocoridae) is a sap‐sucking insect that feeds on leaves of Eucalyptus. In Uruguay, it was detected in 2008 causing significant economic losses in Eucalyptus plantations. At present, there is no efficient control for this pest; thus, the use of biological control agents seems to be...

The southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann, is the most destructive insect pest of pine in the southern United States. This 8-page fact sheet written by Demian F. Gomez and Jiri Hulcr and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Entomology and Nematology describes the beetle and includes advice on how to monitor for them and strategi...

The ambrosia beetle Euwallacea fornicatus Eichhoff sensu lato is a complex of genetically divergent emerging pests responsible for damages to tree industries and ecosystems around the world. All lineages within the species complex are currently considered morphologically identical, presenting problems for their delineation and highlighting the shor...