The Ambrosia Beetle: Frass Production and Male Behavior

The Platypodidae is a largely tropical family in Coleoptera. There are three subfamilies, seven tribes and 32 genera in the Platypodidae. Platypus is one of 32 genera in the Platypodidae and Platypus quercivorus is the most important species in Japan. Platypus quercivorus was known as vector of Japanese Oak wilt disease in Japan. Since 1934, Japanese Oak wilt disease was recorded in Miyazaki, Japan. Recently, this disease is spreading progressively in almost all of prefectures. There are no effective solution to control this disease. The reason is vector beetle which was difficult to observe and control. The biological aspect of P. quercivorus is the most important thing to be studied before arranging of control strategy. It`s difficult to observe the development of P. quercivorus in the gallery. By frass, we can used it as an indicator of beetle activity to study the biological aspect of P. quercivorus in the gallery. In addition, there were some interesting phenomena related to the male behavior of P. quercivorus. This book can give enough information about P. quercivorus related to frass production and male behavior.