Non-invasive volatile sampling of tree trunks: Host finding of the oak splendour beetle Agrilus biguttatus and A. sulcicollis

Oak (Quercus spp.) is one of the most valuable hardwoods in central europe. It has a long rotation time and thus damage of old trees causes high financial losses. Oaks suffer regularly from root pathogens or several leaf-feeding moths but can recover well, as long as jewel beetles do not infest the weakend tree and ultimately cause its death by larval feeding within the phloem of trunk and branches.



Trunk chambers were constructed by staff of the LFE to obtain volatiles released by trees without any cell damage to avoid an induction of volatiles. We want to describe the volatile profile of oak trunks under such "natural" conditions in general and correlate them to stress markers like foliation density or beetle infestation. Furthermore we analyse perception of trunk compounds by antennae of Agrilus biguttatus and Agrilus sulcicollis comparatively with a GC-MS/EAD setup. This may be discharged into an IPM or monitoring system of this forest pest species.

Cooperation: Research Institute for Forest Ecology and Forestry Rhineland Palatinate (FAWF), Eberswalde Forestry Competence Center (LFE) and State Enterprise for Private Forestry Saxony-Anhalt