Version 1
: Received: 17 July 2024 / Approved: 18 July 2024 / Online: 18 July 2024 (11:28:43 CEST)
How to cite:
Hernández, M.; Michel, M.; García, J.; Dueñas, G.; Moncada, M.; Amaya, K.; Yánez, Y.; Pinto, A.; Matamoros, G.; Zamora, M.; Fontecha, G. Morphological and Molecular Identification of Bark and Ambrosia Beetles and Their Associated Predators in Honduran Coniferous Forests. Preprints2024, 2024071462. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.1462.v1
Hernández, M.; Michel, M.; García, J.; Dueñas, G.; Moncada, M.; Amaya, K.; Yánez, Y.; Pinto, A.; Matamoros, G.; Zamora, M.; Fontecha, G. Morphological and Molecular Identification of Bark and Ambrosia Beetles and Their Associated Predators in Honduran Coniferous Forests. Preprints 2024, 2024071462. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.1462.v1
Hernández, M.; Michel, M.; García, J.; Dueñas, G.; Moncada, M.; Amaya, K.; Yánez, Y.; Pinto, A.; Matamoros, G.; Zamora, M.; Fontecha, G. Morphological and Molecular Identification of Bark and Ambrosia Beetles and Their Associated Predators in Honduran Coniferous Forests. Preprints2024, 2024071462. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.1462.v1
APA Style
Hernández, M., Michel, M., García, J., Dueñas, G., Moncada, M., Amaya, K., Yánez, Y., Pinto, A., Matamoros, G., Zamora, M., & Fontecha, G. (2024). Morphological and Molecular Identification of Bark and Ambrosia Beetles and Their Associated Predators in Honduran Coniferous Forests. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.1462.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Hernández, M., Mario Zamora and Gustavo Fontecha. 2024 "Morphological and Molecular Identification of Bark and Ambrosia Beetles and Their Associated Predators in Honduran Coniferous Forests" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.1462.v1
Abstract
Bark beetles are one of the major causes of tree mortality in coniferous forests worldwide. The large-scale disturbances by beetle outbreaks have strongly increased in Honduras and other countries, leading to significant ecological, economic, and social consequences. However, the taxonomy, local distribution, and environmental aspects of most bark beetles and their biological predators remain poorly studied. Here, we applied a morphological approach to identify Scolytinae individuals across different forest areas in Honduras. Moreover, the barcoding approach was used by amplifying and sequencing the mitochondrial COI gene. The intraspecific genetic diversity of Ips apache was also analyzed. 1,131 individuals were examined, and 27 genera were identified. Most of the specimens were identified as belonging to the genus Ips, accounting for 53.2% of the total. Xyleborus accounted for 16.5% and Temnoscheila accounted for 10%. Less than four individuals were found for fifteen genera. Ips, Temnoscheila, Xyleborus, Hypothenemus and Pityophthorus exhibited the most extensive geographic distribution among the sampled sites. At the genus level, Olancho, El Paraíso, and Copán displayed the highest diversity. This study is the first report of two genera (Xylomeira and Stephanopachys) in Honduran pine forests. Among individuals of I. apache, there was evidence of intraspecific genetic diversity, but no population structure was detected. While our findings update the list of bark beetles and biological predators associated with Honduran coniferous forests, more taxonomic inventories and ecological studies are required to understand the spread of bark beetles in pine forests.
Keywords
Ips apache; bark and ambrosia beetles; natural predators; Scolytinae; barcoding; pine forest; Honduras.
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Forestry
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
