Macrotoma palmata (Fabricius)
Common name: Acacia stem borer, sunt Macrotoma.
Systematic position: Insecta, Holometabola, Coleoptera, Cerambycidae.
Distribution: Egypt to North Africa,
Morphology: The adults are about 40-55 mm in length, dorsum, including thorax and elytra brown and delicately punctuated.
Host plants: Fruit trees like apple, apricot, citrus, fig (Ficus carica L.), mango, peach, pear, as well as Acacia spp., Casuarina, and willow (Salix spp.).
Life history: The beetle appears in mid-summer and starts to lay eggs in bark cracks of the trunks of healthy trees. Young larvae bore small galleries that gradually increse in size as the larvae grows, until they become wide cavities. Larval development requires 1–2 years, or even more, the adults emerging towards autumn and later. Most infestations are in the upper parts of tree trunks.
Economic importance: A polyphagous pest that infests and damages fruit trees (like citrus and apricots) as well as various ornamental trees, including Casuarina.
References
El-Sherif, S.I., Kira, M.T. and Moustafa, F.F. 1980: Life-cycle and generation period of the sunt Macrotoma, Macrotoma palmata F. (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Agricultural Research Review (Cairo). 571: 79-85
Shehata, W.A. Okil, A.M. and El-Sebay, Y. 2001. Effect of some ecological factors on population level of Macrotoma palmata L. (Col., Cerambycidae). Egyptian Journal of Agricultural Research 79, # 1,
Tadros, A. W., Kinawy, M. and Abd-Allah, F.F. 1993. Population dynamics and host range of Macrotoma palmata F. (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). International Journal of Tropical Insect Science 14: 713-718.
Tadros, A.W., Saafan, M.H. and Shehata W. A. 1996. Effect of horticultural, mechanical and chemical treatments on the reduction of Macrotoma palmate infestation in apricot orchards. Egyptian Journal of Agricultural Research. 74: 53- 59.
Tawfik, H.M., Shehata, W.A., Nasr, F.N. and Abd-Allah, F.F. 2014. Population dynamics of Macrotoma palmate F. (Col.: Cerambycidae) on casuarina trees in Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria Journal of Agricultural Research 59: 141‐146.