What is it about?
Rather than fighting an invasive ambrosia beetle (i.e., Xylosandrus compactus) directly using insecticides, we tested a new strategy that targeted its food source. This beetle is a fungus-farming insect, which is completely dependent on a specific fungus for its development and survival. We discovered that applying certain fungicides could disrupt the mutualism between the beetle and the fungus. Specifically, some fungicides were effective in significantly reducing the fungal growth in infested host trees and consequently reducing the beetle population. This approach, which targets the beetle's nutritional symbiont rather than the insect itself, offers a promising new way of managing this invasive pest.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
We provide baseline data and new insights for the use of fungicides as potential tools to indirectly affect the infestation success of an ambrosia beetle through the suppression of its nutritional mutualist.
Perspectives
Our findings will help in developing novel and effective integrated pest management approaches based on the mycobiome alteration and targeting problematic ambrosia beetles of economically important crops.
Antonio Gugliuzzo
Universita degli Studi di Catania
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Exploring the potential of synthetic and biological fungicides for managing the fungus-farming ambrosia beetle Xylosandrus compactus, PLOS One, July 2025, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0329063.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
