Ambrosiophilus atratus (Eichhoff), 1875

Beaver, R. A. & Liu, L. Y., 2010, An annotated synopsis of Taiwanese bark and ambrosia beetles, with new synonymy, new combinations and new records (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), Zootaxa 2602, pp. 1-47 : 21

74. Ambrosiophilus atratus (Eichhoff)

Xyleborus atratus Eichhoff, 1875: 201 .

Distribution: China (SE), Japan, Korea, Taiwan. Introduced into North America ( Haack, 2006; Rabaglia et al. 2006). Nobuchi (1967) includes a number of other countries ( Indonesia, Myanmar, New Guinea, Philippines) in the distribution, but we can locate no published records and consider them to be included in error. Nobuchi’s error has been perpetuated by Wood and Bright (1992). [2a]

Hosts: Polyphagous, attacking both angiosperm and gymnosperm trees ( Choo 1983). Recorded from living Pinus luchuensis (Pinaceae) in Taiwan by Murayama (1934).

Taxonomy: The species is listed under Xyleborus in the Wood and Bright catalog (1992), but was transferred to the new genus Ambrosiophilus by Hulcr and Cognato (2009). These authors note that species of this genus often parasitise the fungal ‘gardens’ of other ambrosia beetles, although A.atratus itself does not. The habits of the other Ambrosiophilus species found in Taiwan are not well known.