Aulonium ruficorne Olivier
Systematic position: Insecta, Holometabola, Coleoptera, Colydiidae.
Morphology: Adults about 3.5-4.5 mm long, head and thorax black, heavily punctate. Anterior part of Elytra brown, rest black, and with 2 pairs of dorsal longitudinal grooves. Distal segments of the brown antennae expanded. Larva whitish except posterior segments that are dark, posterior segment with a pair of claspers (cerci).
Distribution: A mostly Mediterranean species that also occurs in Eastern Europe.
Life history: In the laboratory adults lived for about 5 weeks. The threshold of development was calculated to be at 11.3°C and 571 day degrees were required for a generation.
Economic importance: An important predator of bark beetles (Scolytinae), especially of Orthotomicus erosus, in Israel and Turkey. It was calculated that the predator might reduce bark beetle populations by up to 90% during spring and autumn and by 30-50% during summer. Within infested pine trees the predator may be affected by competing parasitoids and other predators.
References
Podoler, H., Livne, H. and Mendel, Z. 1990. Studies on the biology of a bark beetle predator, Aulonium ruficorne (Coleoptera: Colydiidae). Environmental Entomology 19:1010-1016.
Mendel, Z., Podoler, H. and Livne, H. 1990. Interactions between Aulonium ruficorne (Coleoptera: Colydiidae) and other natural enemies of bark beetles (Coleptera: Scolytidae). Entomophaga 35: 99-105.
Sarikaya, O. and Ibiş, H.M. 2016. Predatory species of bark beetles in the pine forests of Izmir Region in Turkey with new records for Turkish fauna. Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control 26: 651-656.
Websites
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