Ambrosia beetle
From Free net encyclopedia
{{Taxobox
| color = pink
| name = Ambrosia beetles
| regnum = Animalia
| phylum = Arthropoda
| classis = Insecta
| ordo = Coleoptera
| familia = Cucurlionidae
| familia_authority = Shuckard, 1840, Triplehorn and Johnson, 2005
| genus = Platypus, Xylosandrus, Xyloborus...
| genus_authority = Herbst, 1793, Triplehorn and Johnson, 2005
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
P. abietes
P. compositus
P. flavicornis
P. parallelus
P. pini
P. quadridentatus
P. wilsoni
...
}}
Ambrosia beetles are wood-boring beetles in the subfamily Scolytinae. They attack weakened or recently cut trees, feeding on a fungus which they bring to the tree. They attack both pine species and hardwoods, infrequently attacking healthy trees.
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 cultivating fungus, on which the insects and larvae feed.