{"id":88344,"date":"2018-12-06T08:57:12","date_gmt":"2018-12-06T18:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=88344"},"modified":"2019-03-27T14:57:44","modified_gmt":"2019-03-28T00:57:44","slug":"ambrosia-beetles-linked-to-rod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2018\/12\/06\/ambrosia-beetles-linked-to-rod\/","title":{"rendered":"Ambrosia beetles linked to Rapid \u02bb\u014chi\u02bba Death confirmed"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>
\"Frass
Frass from ambrosia beetles on a carrot disk, with C. lukuohia<\/em> growing in the middle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Researchers at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources<\/a> (CTAHR<\/abbr>) at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa have published the first study to confirm the role of ambrosia beetles in Rapid ʻŌhiʻa<\/span> Death (ROD<\/abbr>)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Xyleborus ferrugineus<\/em>, a non-native ambrosia beetle, is one culprit in the spread of Ceratocystis lukuohia<\/em>, a tree-colonizing fungus that leads to widespread ROD<\/abbr> in ʻōhiʻa<\/span> lehua trees in the Puna area of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Island, according to Kylle Roy, formerly of CTAHR<\/abbr>\u2019s Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences.<\/p>\n

Roy and other researchers found the beetle frass contained 62 percent C. lukuohia<\/em> DNA<\/abbr> and that 17 percent of the frass had viable fungus spores with the potential to spread to healthy ʻōhiʻa<\/span> trees. Frass is the sawdust and woody droppings produced by ambrosia beetles and other wood-boring insects when they bore into and colonize trees.<\/p>\n