Ambrosia beetle

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iAmbrosia beetles
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Coleoptera Family: Curculionidae Subfamily: Scolytinae, Platypodinae Genus: Platypus, Xylosandrus, Xyloborus...
Species
many

Ambrosia beetles are woodboring beetles, primarily in the subfamily Scolytinae of the weevil family, Curculionidae, but sometimes the subfamily Platypodinae is included (the latter are more often differentiated by using the name "pin-hole borers"). They attack weakened or recently cut trees, feeding on a fungus which they bring to the tree, carrying the fungal spores in special structures called mycangia, and inoculating the trees as they attack them. 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 the fungus, on which the insects and their larvae feed.