Anoplophora isa moderate-sized genus with 36 species of woodboring cerambycid beetles that occur throughout Asia, with the highest diversity in the tropical and subtropical region.
Two species, A. chinensis (Forster) and A. glabripennis (Motchulsky) are known in the Korean peninsula. The latter is an infamous invasive species, commonly called the Asian longhorned beetle, in the U.S. causing economic damage on hard woods.
For the present study, we carried out field surveys from 2010 to 2013 and literature review on the host plants of Korean Anoplophora species.
A. chinensis is associated with 14 host plant species in 4 families and A. glabripennis 17 species of 11 families. Most importantly, the Manchurian striped maple, Acer tegmentosum Maxim. (Aceraceae), is newly recognized as a host of the Asian longhorned beetle.
In the present study, a revised host plant checklist of Korean Anoplophora species is provided, with correction of scientific and Korean names of the host plants.
The Cerambycidae is a very diverse family in Chrysomeloidea (Insecta: Coleoptera), and the members are commonly called as longhorn beetles, long-horned beetles or longicorn beetles.
The family is comprised of approximately 25,000 described species in nine subfamilies worldwide, and 311 species are known from Korean insect fauna. Most species are associated with woods and shrubs or live on herbaceous vegetation in open areas. Cerambycid larvae are primarily borers in deadwood. Some species develop in living trees and cause damage on host plants by boring heart wood and making galleries.
As the results of four year field surveys (from 2010 to 2013) and literature review, host plants of 181 species of Korean Cerambycidae are revised, including thirteen new cerambycid-host associations, and more than 179 host plants species of 107 genera in 44 families are compiled. Among them, most common host plants are belonged to mainly four families: Ulmaceae, Pinaceae, Fagaceae and Betulaceae. Additionally, Acer tegmentosum Maxim. (Aceraceae) is newly recognized as a host plant of the Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora grabripennis (Motchulsky) in South Korea.