Records of seven species of native and exotic bark beetles new to Pu’u Wa’awa’a Dry Forest Unit, Hawai‘i Island (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae)

Abstract

As part of ongoing surveys for native bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) across the Hawaiian Islands, we undertook targeted sampling at Pu’u Wa’awa’a Experimental Forest Unit, North Kona, on the northwestern part of Hawai‘i Island during February to April of 2018 and 2019. This is one of the few areas containing remaining native dry forest on the leeward, dry side of the island. Our sampling revealed the presence of seven species of bark beetles not previously recorded from Pu’u Wa’awa’a. These included two native and endemic Hawaiian species belonging to the genus Xyleborus Eichhoff (tribe Xyleborini). The other five species are the exotic Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari, 1867), or the coffee berry borer, belonging to the tribe Cryphalini, which is a serious pest of coffee in the Hawaiian Islands, and four widespread adventive species belonging to the tribe Xyleborini, including Xyleborus ferrugineus (Fabricius, 1801), whose frass has been demonstrated to be able to contain a fungus that is a causative agent of the plant disease Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death which currently poses a threat to native ʻōhiʻa lehua trees. These records are presented and discussed in detail, and the newly recorded species are illustrated in colour photographs.