54. Cnestus mutilatus (Blandford)

Xyleborus mutilatus Blandford, 1894a: 103 .

Cnestus mutilatus (Blandford): Dole & Cognato, 2010: 530.

Thai distribution: N: Chiang Mai (Schedl 1971 as Xyleborus mutilatus). No later records from Thailand.

Other distribution: Throughout the Oriental region from India to Indonesia and New Guinea, extending North to China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan. Introduced to and invasive in southern U.S.A. (Haack 2006, Rabaglia et al. 2006). (4)

Biology: The biology of the species has been studied in Japan by Kajimura and Hijii (1992, 1994), in China by Tang (2000), and in U.S.A. by Stone and colleagues (Stone & Nebeker 2007, Stone et al. 2007). The associated ambrosia fungus has been described by Six et al. (2009). It is a pest of young Castanea mollissima (Fagaceae) trees in China (Zhejiang) (Tang 2000), but in USA appears to favour stressed host plants (Stone et al. 2007).

Illustrations: P (Hulcr 2013).