ABSTRACT
The longhorn beetle fauna of Kentucky has long been overlooked in the literature with revisions and historic publications reporting few records from the state. Here, we document the occurrence of 222 species of Cerambycidae in Kentucky, with 140 new state records. For each species, we summarize its distribution (overall and in the state), the counties, years, and months in which it has been collected, collecting methods, what collections house the specimens, larval host plants, adult flower visitation, chemical lure attraction, recent taxonomic changes, and other pertinent information about the species. Using this dataset, the bias-corrected Chao1 species richness estimator predicted that 241 species should be found in Kentucky, indicating that our sampling is nearly comprehensive. Additionally, we provide a list of 42 species that have been found in at least one neighboring state and the distance from the closest record of the species to Kentucky; among this candidate list are 11 species known from within 50 km of the state. This checklist remedies the historical oversight of Kentucky cerambycid diversity in the literature, and we hope it will serve as a resource for future collectors, particularly the information on chemical lure attraction, which has not been summarized to this extent for any other state to date.
Subject(s)
Coleoptera , Animals , Larva , Pheromones , Plant Nectar , KentuckyABSTRACT
The invasive Asian cerambycid beetle Callidiellum rufipenne (Motschulsky), informally known as the Japanese cedar longhorned beetle, was first detected in North America in North Carolina in 1997. The beetle has since been detected in neighboring states and is expected to further expand its range. However, delineating the current distribution of C. rufipenne has been hindered by the lack of efficient sampling methods. Here, we present the results of research on the chemistry of volatile pheromones of C. rufipenne. Analyses of headspace odors revealed that males produce (R)-3-hydroxyhexan-2-one, with lesser amounts of (S)-3-hydroxyhexan-2-one, and (R)- and (S)-2-hydroxyhexan-3-one. In field bioassays conducted over several years in Connecticut, where populations of the beetle were well established, no reconstructed blend of these compounds was significantly attractive to beetles of either sex. However, during field trials in Japan that targeted another species, we discovered that adult male and female C. rufipenne were attracted to a blend of racemic 3-hydroxyhexan-2-one and a novel natural product, 1-(1H-pyrrol-2-yl)-1,2-propanedione. Attraction to (R)-3-hydroxyhexan-2-one and the pyrrole subsequently was confirmed in field trials in Connecticut. Although it is unclear why the pyrrole acts as a synergist for a species that apparently does not produce it, the serendipitous discovery that adult C. rufipenne are attracted by the blend of ketone and pyrrole provides a badly needed method for monitoring its ongoing range expansion within North America, and for detecting new introductions in other parts of the world.
