Orthotomicus erosus (Wollaston, 1857)

Beaver, Roger A., Ghahari, Hassan & Sanguansub, Sunisa, 2016, An annotated checklist of Platypodinae and Scolytinae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from Iran, Zootaxa 4098 (3), pp. 401-441 : 412-413

Orthotomicus erosus (Wollaston, 1857)

Distribution in Iran. Fars, West Azarbaijan, northern provinces ( Modarres Awal 1997), Guilan ( Borumand 1998; Amini et al. 2013), Tehran ( Borumand 1998), Iran (no locality cited) ( Mifsud & Knižek 2009).

General distribution. Central and southern Europe, North Africa, Middle East, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, China. Introduced into Chile, Uruguay and South Africa.

Biology. The species breeds in Pinus (Pinaceae) , but maturation feeding can also occur on Cupressus (Cupressaceae) ( Mendel & Halperin 1982). Recorded in Iran from Pinus sp. ( Pinaceae ) ( Modarres Awal 1997; Amini et al. 2013), and Cupressus sempervirens var. horizontalis (Cupressaceae) ( Modarres Awal 1997). The biology, behaviour and seasonal history have been studied by Mendel and colleagues ( Mendel & Halperin 1982; Mendel 1983a; Mendel et al. 1991) in Israel, and Tribe (1990b, 1992) in South Africa. Various aspects of host selection behaviour are discussed by Walter et al. (2010a, b). The interactions between the species and other scolytines attacking pine have been studied by Amezaga and Rodríguez (1998). The species, like other Orthotomicus species found in Iran, normally attacks weakened or dead trees, but primary attacks on apparently healthy trees can occur following fires, or when populations build up in dead host trees left in situ in the forest ( Serez 1987; Paiva 1995).

Comments. Bracon (Glabrobracon) praetermisus Marshall, 1885 ( Hymenoptera : Braconidae ) was collected from Guilan (northern Iran) by Ghahari et al. (2012). Since it is a parasitoid of Orthotomicus erosus ( Beyarslan et al. 2005) and O. erosus is a dominant species in northern Iran ( Modarres Awal 1997; Borumand 1998), its role as a natural enemy should be investigated.