| An unusual request from a bamboo collector in Brazil who has 20 species. The common pests of bamboo are:
Dinoderus minutus
Lyctus planicollis/Chlorophorus annularis
Rhizoperta dominica – Cerambicidae
From time to time, small insects were observed going in and out of the holes made by D minutus, and an identification was requested.
The replies suggested that the nsects were most probably a parasitoid, a parasitic wasp, of the order Hymenoptera family. They could be Pteromalidae or possibly Braconidae (Phanerotoma ocularis was suggested), but not a chalcid. One of the insects in the photo is emerging from its cocoon.
Information was also given on other pests of bamboo in Brazil, including the Cerambicid, Chlorophorus annularis, which is common, but it is not often mentioned in the literature as a pest of bamboo. Damage caused by this beetle is greater than that of the Bostrichidae or other powderpost beetles. |
