Phloeosinus aubei (Perris, 1855)

Beaver, Roger A., Ghahari, Hassan & Sanguansub, Sunisa, 2016, An annotated checklist of Platypodinae and Scolytinae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from Iran, Zootaxa 4098 (3), pp. 401-441 : 415-416

Phloeosinus aubei (Perris, 1855)

Distribution in Iran. Guilan ( Amini et al. 2013), Tehran and other northern provinces ( Modarres Awal 1997 as Phloeosinus bicolor Brullé, 1832 and Phloeosinus cupressi Hopkins, 1903 (see Ghahari & Colonelli 2012)), Iran (no locality cited) ( Knížek 2011).

General distribution. Central and southern Europe, North Africa, Middle East, Turkmenistan, and China, Korea. Schedl (1960) and Browne (1968) record it from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, but these records are probably of a closely related species.

Taxonomy. The species is often recorded in the literature as its synonym, Phloeosinus bicolor .

Biology. This species breeds in various genera of Cupressaceae including Cupressus , Juniperus , Thuja , and Taxodiaceae ( Cunninghamia , Taxodium ). It is recorded in Iran from Cupressus sempervirens var. horizontalis , Juniperus sp. and Platycladus orientalis (Cupressaceae) ( Amini et al. 2013; Modarres Awal 1997). Schedl (1960), Chararas (1962) and Browne (1968) describe the biology and gallery system. The species breeds in fallen branches and dying or dead trees, but maturation feeding by the young adults in green twigs can cause damage to healthy trees ( Browne 1968). Belhabib et al. (2009) assess host selection and reproductive performance on different host species.

Comments. Heydenia pretiosa Förster, 1856 and Dinotiscus colon (Linnaeus 1758) ( Hymenoptera : Pteromalidae ) are parasitoids of P. aubei in Iran ( Davatchi & Shojai 1968; Shojai 1998; Radjabi 1991 as Cheiropachus colon L.). Schedl (1960) and Mendel (1986) record additional species of parasitoids and predators. Mendel (1983b) suggests the use of pruned trap logs to control the species.