Scolytus kirschii kirschii Skalitzky, 1876

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 : 419

Scolytus kirschii kirschii Skalitzky, 1876

Distribution in Iran. West Azarbaijan ( Samin et al. 2011), southern provinces ( Modarres Awal 1997).

General distribution. Southern Europe, North Africa, Southern Russia, Iraq, Israel, Turkey, Tajikistan. Introduced into South Africa.

Biology. It attacks species of Ulmus (Ulmaceae) ( Six et al. 2005). It has been recorded in Iran from Prunus armeniaca (both wild and cultivated), Cerasus avium , Prunus domestica (Rosaceae) , sometimes on Ulmus sp. ( Ulmaceae ) ( Modarres Awal 1997), Fagus sylvatica ( Samin et al. 2011) . Six et al. (2005) suggest that attacks on hosts other than Ulmus , are likely to be non-breeding attacks, but further work needs to be done to check this. The biology of the species has recently been discussed by Six et al. (2005). It attacks both stressed and healthy trees, and can result in tree mortality ( Six et al. 2005), but is not considered to be an important vector of Dutch elm disease ( Webber 1990).

Comments. Metacolus azureus (Ratzeburg, 1844) ( Hymenoptera : Pteromalidae ) is a parasitoid of S. kirschii kirschii on Prunus armeniaca in Iran ( Ghahari et al. 2010a).