New Canadian and Provincial Records of Coleoptera Resulting from Annual Canadian Food Inspection Agency Surveillance for Detection of Non-Native, Potentially Invasive Forest Insects

• Published in: Insects
• Main Authors: Thurston, Graham S., Slater, Alison, Nei, Inna, Roberts, Josie, McLachlan Hamilton, Karen, Sweeney, Jon D., Kimoto, Troy
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI 2022
• Subjects: Article; British Columbia; Canada; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9408973/; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13080708

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Early detection of adventive and potentially invasive insects that may threaten the health of forests is essential for their successful management in Canada and the world at large. To that end, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) conducts annual surveys at sites with high risk of adventive species introductions (e.g., ports, industrial zones, disposal sites for solid wood packaging material) using semiochemical-baited traps and also by rearing insects from trunk sections collected from stressed trees. We report 31 new Canadian provincial records of beetle species detected in surveys conducted from 2011 to 2021, including 13 new records for Canada and 9 species adventive to North America. Nine of the new Canadian records were native North American species previously detected only south of the border. All but three species belong to the Curculionidae family (“snout beetles”) and most of these were in the subfamily Scolytinae (bark and ambrosia beetles). Rearing of insects from trunk sections of stressed trees accounted for two new species records whereas trapping accounted for the remainder. These surveys not only assist our efforts to manage forest insects by documenting new species introductions and apparent range expansions but also increase our knowledge of biodiversity. ABSTRACT: The arrival and establishment of adventive, invasive forest insects are a threat to the health, diversity, and productivity of forests in Canada and the world at large, and their early detection is essential for successful eradication and management. For that reason, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) conducts annual surveys at high risk sites such as international ports and freight terminals, industrial zones, and disposal sites for solid wood packaging material using two methods: (1) semiochemical-baited traps deployed in a total of about 63–80 sites per year in British Columbia (BC), Ontario (ON), Quebec (QC), New Brunswick (NB), Nova Scotia (NS), and Newfoundland and Labrador (NL); and (2) rearing ...