Agrilus planipennis
| Emerald Ash Borer | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Buprestidae |
| Genus: | Agrilus |
| Species: | A. planipennis |
| Binomial name | |
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Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, 1888 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Agrilus planipennis, commonly known as the emerald ash borer, is a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to northeastern Asia that feeds on ash species. Females lay eggs in bark crevices on ash trees, and larvae feed underneath the bark of ash trees to emerge as adults in one to two years. In its native range, it is typically found at low densities and does not cause significant damage to trees native to the area. Outside its native range, it is an invasive species and is highly destructive to ash trees native to northwest Europe and North America. Prior to being found in North America, very little was known about emerald ash borer in its native range; this has resulted in much of the research on its biology being focused in North America. Local governments in North America are attempting to control it by monitoring its spread, diversifying tree species, insecticides, and biological control.
The French priest and naturalist Armand David collected a specimen of the species during one of the trips he took through imperial China in the 1860s and 1870s. He found the beetle in Beijing and sent it back to France, where the first brief description of Agrilus planipennis by the entomologist Léon Fairmaire was published in the Revue d'Entomologie in 1888. Unaware of Fairmaire's description, a separate description naming the species as Agrilus marcopoli was also published by in 1930 by Jan Obenberger.
Adult beetles are typically bright metallic green and about 8.5 millimeters (0.33 in) long and 1.6 millimeters (0.063 in) wide. Elytra are typically a darker green, but can also have copper hues. Emerald ash borer is the only North American species of Agrilus with a bright red upper abdomen when viewed with the wings and elytra spread. The species also has a small spine found at the tip of the abdomen and serrate antennae that begin at the fourth antennal segment. Adults beetles of other species can often be misidentified by the public.
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Wikipedia