Ips hauseri
(Kyrgyz mountain engraver)

Pictures

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Identity

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Preferred Scientific Name

• Ips hauseri Reitter, 1894

Preferred Common Name

• Kyrgyz mountain engraver

International Common Names

• English: Hauser's engraver
• Russian: Gorn'iy kirgizskiy koroed

EPPO code

• IPSXHA (Ips hauseri)

Taxonomic Tree

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• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Metazoa
•         Phylum: Arthropoda
•             Subphylum: Uniramia
•                 Class: Insecta
•                     Order: Coleoptera
•                         Family: Scolytidae
•                             Genus: Ips
•                                 Species: Ips hauseri

Description

Top of page Egg

No information is available.

Larva

No information is available.

Adult

The body length of the adult beetle is 4.3-4.7 mm.

The beetle is brown, cylindrical in shape and sometimes covered with long hairs. Frons is granular in its lower part and linearly wrinkled in the upper part (this is more visible in males). There is a small prominence in the middle above the mouth. The upper part of the frons is characterised by a longitudinal keel, which is sometimes indistinct (especially in females). The front part of the pronotum is covered with small denticles; its back part is covered with small, deep dots. Dotty striae on wing covers are narrow and shallow. Odd intervals are covered with small, single and unclear dots. The elytral declivity is concave. There are four denticles on each wing cover along the edges of the depression. The second and third denticles have a common base. The third denticle is the largest. Its top is obtuse and is without a bulge in the form of a small button. The intervals between the denticles are almost equal. The base of elytra is slightly drawn out and bent up.

Distribution

Top of page I. hauseri is an endemic species of the Tien Shan mountains of China, Kyrgyzstan. Its distribution is limited by Picea schrenkiana forests of the Central and West Tien Shan, by the Dzhungarsky, Zailiisky, Kungei and Terskei Ala Tau, as well as of the Chatkalski and Ferganski mountain ranges. Its presence outside the habitat of Picea schrenkiana is questionable (Stark, 1952).

Distribution Table

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The distribution in this summary table is based on all the information available. When several references are cited, they may give conflicting information on the status. Further details may be available for individual references in the Distribution Table Details section which can be selected by going to Generate Report.

Risk of Introduction

Top of page Beetles may be transported on the surface of trunks, young beetles may be under the bark. Eggs, larvae and pupae may be under the bark too.

During wood transporting, wood should be debarked and inspected for bore holes. Cut branches, plants for planting, including bonsai, should be inspected too.

Host Plants and Other Plants Affected

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Growth Stages

Top of page Flowering stage, Fruiting stage, Post-harvest, Vegetative growing stage

List of Symptoms/Signs

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Biology and Ecology

Top of page I. hauseri is similar to I. typographus and I. duplicatus in its biology, ecology and appearance. The period of adult emergence of I. hauseri is very wide and varies according to altitude. In the lower altitude belt the first beetles appear in the first 10 days of May but their mass emergence occurs in the second or third week of May. Beetles invade impaired trees of different ages whose diameter is greater than 12 cm. On thin trees the galleries are situated in the butt of the trunk. On thick trees with diameters of around 140 cm the spread of an invaded area runs up to 25 m. In the understorey on green logs and wind-fallen trees the colonies of I. hauseri are situated on the upper stem while the lower stem remains unaffected. The mass reproduction of I. hauseri takes place on littered cutting areas.

I. hauseri is a polygamous species. Three to six female galleries 3-14 cm long (on average 7.8 cm) extend away from the nuptial chamber. To some extent their length is related to the density of the colonies, the stem diameter and the area of thick bark.

Newly emerged beetles feed under the bark. Sometimes they do not find enough nutrition here and leave the emergence sites for other parts of the stem or different trees.

In the lower altitude belt (1200-1500 m) the adults emerge in May. The completion of egg development and the larval emergence occurs in the first 10 days of June. The young beetles appear in the last ten days of July. Additional feeding on the bast lasts from 15 days to 1.5 months. The second generation of beetles invade trees in the first 10 days of August. The second-generation beetles emerge at the end of September. They find additional nutrition around the emergence area and then hibernate in the same place, under the bark.

In the middle altitude belt (1500-2000 m) the developmental stages of I. hauseri occur 2 weeks later than in the lower belt.

In the upper altitude belt (2000-2500 m) the development period of I. hauseri lasts 1 month longer on average. Due to this reason there is only one generation of I. hauseri.

The pest mainly invades the area of thick bark beginning at the base of the tree and extends to a height of 15-26 m.

The population of the parent generation of I. hauseri on a tree is related to its diameter. The highest density of invasion is for trees with a diameter of 40-50 cm.

The optimum density of the parent generation is five to six beetles per 10 cm² which provides for the largest emergence of the young generation. Colonies of I. hauseri which have a ratio of males to females of 1:4 or 1:5 are the most productive colonies. It should be mentioned that the highest colony density occurs very seldom.

The highest number of I. hauseri is observed in forests of the middle belt (about 58,800 ha), where the conditions are the most favourable for development. Also, the removal of invaded trees in these places is carried out more seldom than in the lower zone. It is warm enough for the development of two generations per year and it has the greatest number of trees damaged by stone-falls and avalanches.

Notes on Natural Enemies

Top of page 19 species of entomophagans have been found in galleries of I. hauseri. Widespread European species proved to be the most active predators. The most predominant is Hypophloeus fraxini which is a typical predator of I. typhographus (Girits, 1974; Nikityuk, 1952, 1957). They actively feed on the larvae, pupae and young beetles of I. hauseri. Nudobius lentus is an active predator of I. hauseri eggs. Several Staphylinidae spp., such as Placusa complanata, Phloeonomus lapponicus were found in galleries of I. hauseri. These species are cited by Saalas (1923) as enemies of spruce bark beetles in Finland and were also found in galleries of I. hauseri: Epuraea pusilla, Lado jelskii, Hypophloeus sp., Medetera excelens, M. ambigua and Lonchaea seitneri.

The most widespread parasites are Dinotiscus eupterus and Rhopalicus tutela.

Pathway Vectors

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Plant Trade

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Wood Packaging

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Impact Summary

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Impact

Top of page I. hauseri is the most harmful species of Picea schrenkiana. During outbreaks I. hauseri also invades healthy young trees. The beetles are usually killed by gum filling the female galleries, although they still greatly weaken the tree.

Prevention and Control

Top of page Control efforts should be undertaken in the area of the present distribution of I. hauseri. Control measures include forestry and sanitary measures (improving the resistance of forests, cutting and elimination of all infested trees; cutting of "trapping trees" followed by their treatment), as well as treatments with chemical and biological preparations.

Entomophages may play an important role in the regulation of the pest population, but have not been used in biological control.

References

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EPPO, 2014. PQR database. Paris, France: European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization. http://www.eppo.int/DATABASES/pqr/pqr.htm

Giric AA, 1975. Osnovy biologicheskoj bor'by s koroedom-typografom (Ips typographus L. Coleoptera, Ipidae) L'vov, Vysshaya shkola. S. 194 (in Russian).

Nikityuk AI, 1951. Khishnye i paraziticheskie nasekomye kak regulyatory vredonosnoj deyatel'nosti i rasprostraneniya koroedov khvojnogo lesa. Soob. 1 .Bullet. MOIP, otd. biol., t.56, N 5. pp. 58-63 (in Russian).

Nikityuk AI, 1957. Khishnye i paraziticheskie nasekomye kak regulyatory vredonosnoj deyatel'nosti i rasprostraneniya koroedov khvojnogo lesa. Soob. 3 Bullet. MOIP, otd. biol., 1957, t.612, N 5. pp 51-55 (in Russian).

Saalas U, 1923. Fichtenkäfer Finnlands. 2. Ann. Acad. Sci. Fennici, ser. A. 22. pp 1-746.

Stark VN, 1952. Korojedi (bark beetles). In: Fauna SSSR. Moskow, Leningrad, SSSR: Public. Acad. Sc. USSR, 31:95-461.

Toktoraliev BA, 1978. Vredonosnost' stvolovych vreditelej eli tyan'shanskoj v Priissykkul'e. Voprosy zashtity lesa. Nauchnye trudy MLTI, Moscow t. 105, pp. 86-87 (in Russian).

Toktoraliev BA, 1981. Vidovoj sosnav entomophagov stvolovych vreditelej eli tyan'shanskoj. Povyshenie productivnosti lesov i uluchsheniya vedeniya lesnogo khozyajstva. Nauchnye trudy MLTI, Moscow, t. 120, pp. 142-145 (in Russian).

Toktoraliev BA, 1992. Koroedy - vrediteli khvoinych lesonaszhdenij Kyrgyzstana // Materialy naucz.-prakt. konf. Oshskogo ondela geograph. obsh., Osh, pp. 98-116 (in Russian).

Toktoraliev BA, Trofimov VN, 1989. Razrabotka metoda uczjota i izuczeniya czislennosti stvolovych vreditelej eli tyan'shanskoj na primere gornogo kirgizskogo koroeda // Materialy V konf. geigrafof Oshsskoj oblasti, Frunze, Ilim, pp. 104-117 (in Russian).

Toktoraliev BA, Trofimov VN, Bajdolotov N, 1984. Osobennosti raspredeleniya gornogo kirgizskogo koroeda i ego entomophagov na zaselennych stvolach eli tyan'shanskoj. Entomologiczeskie issledovaniya v Kirgizii, Frunze, Ilim, t. 17, pp. 40-43 (in Russian).

Distribution Maps

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