Twig girdler

The twig girdler guild is diverse and widely distributed in neotropical and northern regions of the American continent.

Oncideres saga occurs in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay as a generalist twig girdler species, girdling branches of host plants with different diam and vertical positions (Monne 2002; Paro et al.

Twig girdler beetles girdle and lay eggs inside the bark of branches and trunks of different host plants.

branch girdled by the twig girdler (A), the twig girdler beetle Oncideres saga (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) (B), and secondary borer beetles, Tropibidion signatum signatum (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) (C), Agrilozodes suarezi (D), and Agrilus sp.

Abstract: Oncideres ocularis (Cerambycidae) is a twig girdler beetle with potential to become a pest of Fabaceae forest plantations.

The twig girdler species Oncideres ocularis Thomson, 1868 has the potential to become a pest of forest plantations, causing injuries to several trees of Fabaceae.

But few studies had focused on the influence of plants and environment on the biology and reproduction of twig girdler beetles (Rodriguez-del-Bosque & Cedillo 2008; Rodriguez-del-Bosque 2013).

mangium than in the monoculture, it is not possible with the data obtained to infer that the development and survival of the twig girdler were completely affected by the type of plantation, because there may be different species of natural enemies and other Cerambycidae cohabiting the girdled branches over the time, which may also influence the development of girdlers (Paine et al.

2007) and the twig girdler beetles Oncideres saga (Dalman) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) and O.

Adults of twig girdler beetles collected on the branches were sent for identification to the taxonomist Prof.

This could explain why certain species of twig girdler beetles with bigger adults prefer to girdle branches with greater diam and length.

These twig girdler beetles can damage Fabaceae trees in regions where they occur.