Platypus quercivorus
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Platypus quercivorus (click on image to enlarge it)
Author(s): Joseph Benzel, Colorado State University
Source: IPM Images
Author(s): Joseph Benzel, Colorado State University
Source: IPM Images
Platypus quercivorus (Murayama) - (oak platypodid beetle)
The beetle damages oak trunks in Japan and introduces the fungus Raffaelea quercivora into the trees. The combined damage by the beetle and fungus causes oak dieback and wilt which has resulted in mass mortality of oaks in some parts of Japan.
The beetle carries the fungus in mycangia on its pronotum. After it has bored into an oak trees during an attack, it deposits the fungus on the walls of the galleries. The fungus then grows on the wood and the beetles and their brood use it as food. The young beetles which emerge from the pupae again load the fungus into their mycangia before leaving the tree.
