Ambrosia beetles are beetles of the weevil subfamilies Scolytinae and Platypodinae (Coleoptera, Curculionidae), which live in nutritional symbiosis with ambrosia fungi. The beetles excavate tunnels in dead or stressed trees into which they introduce fungal gardens, their sole source of nutrition. After landing on a suitable tree, an ambrosia beetle excavates a tunnel in which it releases its fungal symbiont. The fungus penetrates the plant's xylem tissue, extracts nutrients from it, and concentrates the nutrients on and near the surface of the beetle gallery. Ambrosia fungi are typically poor wood degraders, and instead utilize less demanding nutrients.[1] Symbiotic fungi produce and detoxify ethanol, which is an attractant for ambrosia beetles and likely prevents growth of antagonistic pathogens and selects for other beneficial symbionts.[2] The majority of ambrosia beetles colonize xylem (sapwood and/or heartwood) of recently dead trees, but some colonize stressed trees that are still alive, and a few species attack healthy trees.[3] Species differ in their preference for different parts of trees, different stages of deterioration, and in the shape of their tunnels ("galleries"). However, the majority of ambrosia beetles are not specialized to any taxonomic group of hosts, unlike most phytophagous organisms including the closely related bark beetles.
One species of ambrosia beetle, Austroplatypus incompertus exhibits eusociality, one of the few organisms outside of Hymenoptera and Isoptera to do so.
^Kasson, Matthew T.; Wickert, Kristen L.; Stauder, Cameron M.; Macias, Angie M.; Berger, Matthew C.; Simmons, D. Rabern; Short, Dylan P. G.; DeVallance, David B.; Hulcr, Jiri (October 2016). "Mutualism with aggressive wood-degrading Flavodon ambrosius (Polyporales) facilitates niche expansion and communal social structure in Ambrosiophilus ambrosia beetles". Fungal Ecology. 23: 86–96. doi:10.1016/j.funeco.2016.07.002.
^Ranger, Christopher M.; Biedermann, Peter H. W.; Phuntumart, Vipaporn; Beligala, Gayathri U.; Ghosh, Satyaki; Palmquist, Debra E.; Mueller, Robert; Barnett, Jenny; Schultz, Peter B.; Reding, Michael E.; Benz, J. Philipp (24 April 2018). "Symbiont selection via alcohol benefits fungus farming by ambrosia beetles". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115 (17): 4447–4452. Bibcode:2018PNAS..115.4447R. doi:10.1073/pnas.1716852115. PMC 5924889. PMID 29632193.
^Hulcr, Jiri; Stelinski, Lukasz L. (31 January 2017). "The Ambrosia Symbiosis: From Evolutionary Ecology to Practical Management". Annual Review of Entomology. 62: 285–303. doi:10.1146/annurev-ento-031616-035105. PMID 27860522.
Ambrosiabeetles are beetles of the weevil subfamilies Scolytinae and Platypodinae (Coleoptera, Curculionidae), which live in nutritional symbiosis with...
"ambrosia beetles". The ambrosiabeetles (such as Xyleborus) feed on fungal "gardens" cultivated on woody tissue within the tree. Ambrosiabeetles carry the...
Ragweeds are flowering plants in the genus Ambrosia in the aster family, Asteraceae. They are distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the...
evolved under our control." He comments that insects such as termites, ambrosiabeetles, and leafcutter ants have domesticated some species of fungi, and notes...
fungi that are growing amidst the wood fibers. In some cases, as in ambrosiabeetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae and Platypodinae), the fungi...
Austroplatypus incompertus, a type of ambrosiabeetle, is endemic to Australia. They are found in the mesic forests, and subtropical and tropical ecosystems...
wood-boring Ambrosiabeetles which distribute the spores of ambrosia fungi. The fungi grow in the beetles' tunnels, providing food for the beetles and their...
Ambrosia artemisiifolia, with the common names common ragweed, annual ragweed, and low ragweed, is a species of the genus Ambrosia native to regions of...
Xyleborus glabratus, the redbay ambrosiabeetle, is a type of ambrosiabeetle invasive in the United States. It has been documented as the primary vector...
Euwallacea interjectus is a species of ambrosiabeetle in the species complex called Euwallacea fornicatus. It is native to Asia but has been introduced...
some of those beetles that are house pests. Ambrosiabeetle Common furniture beetle Deathwatch beetle Flat-headed wood-borer Powderpost beetle (Ptinidae,...
crassiusculus, known generally as the Asian ambrosiabeetle or granulate ambrosiabeetle, is a species of tropical bark beetle in the family Curculionidae. It is...
Ambrosia fungi are fungal symbionts of ambrosiabeetles including the polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers. There are a few dozen species described...
striped ambrosiabeetle, is a species of typical bark beetle in the family Curculionidae. Other common names include the two-striped timber beetle, conifer...
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Europe, including southern Great Britain. Similar to other species of Ambrosiabeetles, P. coccinea live and reproduce on wooden logs in early stages of decomposition...
Xylosandrus germanus, known generally as the alnus ambrosiabeetle or black stem borer, is a species of ambrosiabeetle in the family Curculionidae. X. germanus...
(PSHB) is a species complex consisting of multiple cryptic species of ambrosiabeetles known as an invasive species in California, Israel, South Africa, and...
camphor shot borer, camphor shoot borer, or sweetgum ambrosiabeetle, is a species of ambrosiabeetle in the subfamily Scolytinae of the weevil family Curculionidae...
considered a distinct family, Scolytidae. The family also includes the ambrosiabeetles, of which the present-day subfamily Platypodinae was formerly considered...
fungus Raffaelea lauricola, which is transmitted by the invasive redbay ambrosiabeetle, Xyleborus glabratus. The disease affects and kills members of the...
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dispar (pear blight beetle) (Report). doi:10.1079/cabicompendium.57157. Bhagwandin, Omroa (1993). "The shothole borer: an ambrosiabeetle of concern for chestnut...
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