Content uploaded by Samuel Pinya Fernández
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Samuel Pinya Fernández on Dec 27, 2017
Content may be subject to copyright.
281
Boletín de la Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa (S.E.A.), nº 61 (31/12/2017): 281–282. ISSN: 1134-9064 PHORON
First record of Plagionotus arcuatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
(Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in the Balearic Islands
Joan Díaz-Calafat1, Lluc Garcia2 & Samuel Pinya1*
1 Interdisciplinary Ecology Group. Biology Department. University of the Balearic Islands. Ctra. Valldemossa, km 7.5. 07122 Palma,
Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain).
2 Museu Balear de Ciències Naturals, P.O. Box 55. 07100 Sóller. Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain).
* Corresponding author: s.pinya@uib.es
Abstract: A first record for Plagionotus arcuatus (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Balearic Islands is documented through firewood pathway.
This pathway is novel for the Balearic Islands, consequently biosecurity protocols at the archipelago should be activated in order to
prevent the arrival of new alien species that could affect insular biodiversity.
Key words: Firewood pathway, Cerambycidae, Plagionotus arcuatus, first record, Mallorca.
Primer registro de Plagionotus arcuatus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) en las Islas Baleares
Resumen: Se documenta por primera vez la llegada de Plagionotus arcuatus (Linnaeus, 1758) en las Islas Baleares a través del
comercio de leña. Esta vía de entrada es nueva para las Islas Baleares, y consecuentemente deberían activarse protocolos de bio-
seguridad en el archipiélago con la finalidad de prevenir la llegada de nuevas especies alóctonas que pudieran afectar la biodiver-
sidad insular.
Palabras clave: Vía de entrada por comercio de leña, Cerambycidae, Plagionotus arcuatus, primera cita, Mallorca.
Plagionotus arcuatus (Linnaeus, 1758) is a saproxylic coleoptera
species of the family Cerambycidae. It sizes from 8 to 20 mm and
belongs to the group of the wasp-mimetic beetles due to its black-and-
yellow coloration (Navarro et al., 2008).
The phenology of this species ranges from May to August
(Vives, 2001). During this period, individuals can occasionally be found
on Umbelliferae (Notario & Baragaño, 1990; Pérez, 1990), or more
likely on dead branches of the host trees [mainly Quercus sp., alt-
hough other genera have also been reported as hosts: Castanea,
Fagus, Carpinus, Salix, Robinia (Sama, 2002; Vives, 1984), Prunus,
Betula, Ulmus, Acer, Aesculus, Tilia and Fraxinus (Vives, 2000)]. P.
arcuatus is able to colonize large oak stems and branches as small as
5 cm in diameter, preferably those sun-exposed (Sundkvist, 2009).
Females lay their eggs in the host’s bark, so when they hatch larvae
can feed on it. Only when larvae are ready to pupate do they penetrate
the tree’s trunk, being able to reach 7 cm in depth (Harde & Severa,
1984). Such depth can jeopardize the wood’s value, producing eco-
nomical loss.
Plagionotus arcuatus is a Euro-Siberian species widely spread
in Europe, reaching the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Turkey, Iran, North
Africa and Syria (Peña et al., 2007). However, its occurrence in islands
is rather infrequent, being only recorded in some Mediterranean loca-
tions: Sicily, Sardinia and many of the Greek islands (the Ionian, the
Sporades, the islands of the Saronic bay, Crete, Thasos and Samo-
thrace). Up to date, this species has not been recorded in other is-
lands such as Iceland, Ireland, Great Britain, Corsica, Malta, Cyprus,
the Cyclades, the Dodecanese and the Balearic Islands so far. In
Spain it is distributed in the mainland, being more abundant in the
North than in the South, where only a few records have been docu-
mented (Navarro et al., 2008)
In this short note, we present the first record of P. arcuatus in
the Balearic Islands. Four different specimens (3 ♂♂ and 1 ♀) were
captured in May 2017 (Figure 1) by an anonymous citizen of the Sóller
valley (Mallorca, Balearic Islands). The individuals were found alive
inside a commercial imported firewood bag. The locality of origin of the
firewood was not possible to establish properly since the only infor-
mation that appeared in the bag was that it came from the mainland of
Spain. All de individuals were preserved extended at the Natural Histo-
ry Museum of Sóller-Museu Balear de Ciències Naturals (MBCN
21300)
Firewood is a novel pathway to introduce invertebrates into the
Balearic Islands, since no previous records have been documented
before (Álvarez, 2010). In other regions this pathway has high eco-
nomic implications since some pests species have been able to
spread around a large territory (e.g. United States, Jacobi et al., 2012)
Fig. 1. Male of Plagionotus arctuatus captured in Sóller valley
(Mallorca, Balearic Islands) on 2017, May (MBCN 21300).
This insect is considered a secondary pest, so in case its popu-
lation disrupts of control it can reach damaging levels, for instance due
to the presence of trees weakened by diseases or abiotic conditions
(Kolk, 1992). Furthermore, being new to Mallorca, we still don’t know
which animal species will depredate it and how will be its population
dynamics.
Regarding host species, despite the several ones mentioned
above, only Quercus is found in Mallorca in high natural densities.
Thus, the only host species could be Quercus ilex and some isolated
specimens of Q. robur in the Tramuntana Mountain Range. P. arcuatus
282
feeds preferably on freshly felled trees (Adeli & Soleimani, 1976),
recently cut stumps, or even standing trees with living cambium (Szu-
jecki, 2012). This behaviour can produce important economic loss in
wood commerce, especially when populations of P. arcuatus attack
massively felled logs (Harde & Severa, 1984).
However, even though there is no evidence of a possible impact
on local biodiversity, Spanish and Balearic Islands authorities should
take into account firewood as a pathway for introduction of alien spe-
cies. Consequently, biosecurity protocols should be activated in order
to prevent new arrivals of alien species that could affect insular biodi-
versity.
References: ADELI, E. & P. SOLEIMANI 1976. Insects on oriental beech
(Fagus orientalis ssp. macrophylla) in Iran and their importance for
forestry practices and wood utilization. Journal of Applied Entomology,
80(1-4): 132-138. ● ÁLVAREZ, C. 2010. Seminari sobre espècies intro-
duïdes i invasores a les Illes Balears. Conselleria de Medi Ambient i
Mobilitat, Sóller, 188 pp. ● HARDE, K. & F. SEVERA 1984. Guía de
campo de los coleópteros de Europa. Barcelona. ● JACOBI, W.R., J.G.
HARDIN, B.A. GOODRICH & C.M. CLEAVER 2012. Retail firewood can
transport live tree pests. Journal of Economic Entomology, 105(5):
1645-1658. ● KOLK, A. 1992. Impact of bark beetles on forest man-
agement in Poland in 1981-1990. Journal of Applied Entomology, 114:
425-425. ● NAVAR RO , J., J.M.U. GRANERO & A. LLINARES 2008. La tribu
Clytini Mulsant, 1842 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Cerambycinae) en
la España meridional: registros de Plagionotus arcuatus (Linnaeus,
1758), Xylotrechus arvicola (Olivier, 1795) y Xylotrechus antílope
(Schoenherr, 1817) en la Sierra de Tentudía (Badajoz). Boletín de la
Sociedad Andaluza de Entomología, 15: 30-37. ● NOTARIO, A. & J.R.
BARAGAÑO 1990. Dos insectos perforadores del castaño: Plagionotus
arcuatus (L.) y P. detritus (L.) (Col. Cerambycidae). Cuadernos de
Fitopatología, 25(4): 181-183. ● PEÑA, C.F.G., E.V. NOGUERA & A.J. DE
SOUSA ZUZARTE 2007. Nuevo c atálogo de los Cerambycidae (Coleop-
tera) de la Península Ibérica, islas Baleares e islas atlánticas: Cana-
rias, Açores y Madeira. Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa. www.sea-
entomologia.org ● PÉREZ, I. 1990. Datos acerca de la biología y la
distribución de Plagionotus arcuatus ( L.) . Boletín del Grupo Entomoló-
gico de Madrid, 4: 17-22. ● SAMA, G. 2002. Atlas of the Cerambycidae
of Europe and the Mediterranean Area (Vol. 1). VitKabourek. ●
SUNDKVIST, L. 2009. Habitat preferences and reproductive success for
the threatened longhorn beetle Plagionotus detritus (Master Thesis).
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. ● SZUJECKI, A. 2012.
Ecology of forest insects (Vol. 26). Springer Science & Business Me-
dia. 445 pp. ● VIVES, E. 1984. Cerambícidos de la Península Ibérica y
de las Islas Baleares. Treballs del Museu de Zoología, 2, 1-137. ●
VIVES, E. 2000. Coleoptera: Cerambycidae. In Fauna Ibérica, vol. 12.
Ramos, M.A. et al. (Eds.). Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales.
CSIC. Madrid, 192 pp. ● VIVES, E. 2001 Atlas fotográfico de los ce-
rambícidos ibero-baleares (Coleoptera). Argania Editio Ed., Barcelona,
287 pp.