Ambrosia beetle

From Freepedia

? Ambrosia beetles
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Coleoptera Family: Platypodidae Shuckard, 1840 Genus: Platypus Herbst, 1793
Species
P. abietes P. compositus P. flavicornis P. parallelus P. pini P. quadridentatus P. wilsoni

Ambrosia beetles are wood-boring beetles in the genus Platypus. They attack weakened or recently cut trees, feeding on a fungus which they bring to the tree. They attack both pine species and hardwoods, but do not attack either healthy trees or seasoned lumber.

The beetle derives its name from its curious cultivation of a succulent fungus, called ambrosia. Ambrosia beetles bore deep though minute galleries into trees and timber, and the wood-dust provides a bed for the growth of the fungus, on which the insects and larvae feed.