Xylosandrus compactus

- Xylosandrus compactus (Eichhoff) (Figs. 3C, 3D) Distribution. Native to Asia, X. compactus is today a sub-cosmopolitan species distributed in Southeast Asia, Africa, Oceania, the Americas and Europe (Wood & Bright 1992). In Europe it was detected for the first time in 2011 in Italy (Garonna et al. 2012) where it quickly spread in almost all Tyrrhenian regions and Sicily; in 2015 reached southern France where established in parks and gardens (Chapin et al. 2016). To date, its distribution in France extends on a fringe of the Mediterranean coast from Nice to Bormes-les-Mimosas, and an expansion toward West is highly probable in the next future. Literature records: ALPES-MARITIMES – Antibes, Cap d’Antibes, 2015 (Chapin et al. 2016); Saint-JeanCap-Ferrat, 2015 (Chapin et al. 2016); VAR – Saint-Tropez, 2015 (Chapin et al. 2016). New records: ALPES-MARITIMES – Antibes, Garoupe Forest, traps baited with ethanol 100%, (-) α-pinene, and a pheromonal blend for longhorn beetles, from 25.VI. to 19.IX.2018, 37 ind., URZF leg.; Antibes, Villa Thuret, traps baited with ethanol 100%, (-) α-pinene, and a pheromonal blend for longhorn beetles, 10 ind. from 06.VIII. to 30.X.2017 & 27 ind. from 25.VI. to 19.IX.2018, URZF leg.; Cannes, Sainte- Marguerite island, interception traps baited with ethanol 100%, (-) α-pinene, and a pheromone blend for longhorn beetles, from 24.V. to 27.IX.2019, 13 ind., URZF leg.; Cap d’Ail, traps baited with ethanol 100%, (-) α-pinene, and a pheromonal blend for long-horn beetles, from 06.VIII. to 27.VIII.2018, 1 ind., URZF leg.; Nice, Mont Boron, bottle traps, from 06.VIII. to 30.X.2018, 12 ind., DSF leg.; ibidem, interception traps baited with ethanol 100%, (-) α-pinene, and a pheromone blend for longhorn beetles, from 06.VIII. to 17.IX.2018, 32 ind., URZF leg.; Théoule-sur-Mer, caught on Carob tree, 02.XII.2016, 120 ind., S. Pionnat leg.; Villeneuve-Loubet, traps baited with ethanol 100%, (-) α-pinene, and a pheromone blend for longhorn beetles, from 16.VII. to 27.VIII.2018, 3 ind., URZF leg.; ibidem, caught on Laurel, 24.IV.2018, 6 ind., DSF leg.; VAR – Bormes-les-Mimosas, caught on Laurel, 21.XI.2018, 3 ind., DSF leg.; Bormes-les-Mimosas, Chateau-Léoube, interception traps baited with ethanol 100%, (-) α-pinene, and a pheromone blend for longhorn beetles, from 24.V. to 27.IX.2019, 14 ind., URZF leg.; Saint-Raphaël, interception traps baited with ethanol 100%, (-) α-pinene, and a pheromone blend for longhorn beetles, from 30.VII. to 30.VIII.2019, 1 ind., URZF leg.; Saint-Tropez, the Salins, traps baited with ethanol 20%, from 27.IX. to 19.X.2017, 1 ind., DSF leg . Biology and ecology. X. compactus is a highly polyphagous species recorded from more than 220 host plants (Chapin et al. 2016). In France, it is already reported to breed on more than a dozen species, mainly ornamental shrubs, with a clear preference, as in Italy, for laurel (Laurus nobilis L.). X. compactus is an ambrosia beetle infesting twigs and small-diameter branches (