Host Plants of World Agrilus (Coleoptera, Buprestidae) (PDF)

The genus Agrilus is a remarkable phenomenon in the insect world representing one of the most successful groups of insect, which is projected into enormous species diversity, likely the highest in the Animal Kingdom. To date, more than 3000 Agrilus species or subspecies are recognized but the real amount can be a multiple of this number.

Many Agrilus have been considered for a long time as plant pests, but it was the recent outbreak of Agrilus planipennis in North America causing the death of millions of ash trees, which has made Agrilus planipennis one of the most frequently cited pests in the entomological literature and catapulted the genus Agrilus into the ranks of the most damaging pests in the world.

Insect - host plant associations include important biological, ecological, evolutionary and biogeographic aspects determining the role of insects in the ecosystem. Reliable trophic data are indispensable for proper assessment of ecological amplitude, biogeographic requirements or invasive potential, serving for timely and effective pest control measures.

This review aims to provide a critical overview on published worldwide Agrilus - host plant associations. The word critical means that this study doesn't provide just meaningless data compilation with all mistakes and confusions gathered from the past, but it rather offers personally checked and carefully evaluated records based on a methodology distinguishing between original observation and subsequent repetition, as well as larval and adult records. Critically evaluated data are for the first time summarized, analyzed and illustrated.