OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR OF OBEREA LINEARIS (COLEOPTERA CERAMBYCIDAE) IN SARDINIA (ITALY)

In Sardinia the hazelnut (Corylus avellana) is cultivated in the Barbagia of Belvì area (Nuoro Province) up to 1000 m a.s.l., over an area of about 570 hectares.
In this location, a particularly striking hazelnut pest, given the strong visible impact of its attack, was Oberea linearis (Coleoptera Cerambycidae), whose larvae feed on young shoots.
As part of the national project Co.Ri.Bio., a three-year study was conducted, taking into consideration some aspects of the biology of the longhorn beetle in order to evaluate if it was effectively a serious problem for hazelnut production.
In order to fulfil this objective, the following aspects were investigated: adult flight period; the development of larval galleries; time in which the young shoots appear dried up and characteristics of the young shoots chosen by O. linearis to lay their eggs.
In Sardinia, the O. linearis flight period is short and concentrated in early June.
More than 50% of its ovipositions were seen on very straight, vigorous and fruit-free young shoots.
The first wilted young shoots appeared at the beginning of July, about three weeks after the adult flight peak, and 86% of them dried up in the first two following weeks.
Until early August, more than 50% of the larvae stayed in the parched portion of the young shoots. O. linearis, which was considered particularly worrying before our surveys, does not seem to cause substantial damage and it is potentially manageable through adequate pruning techniques.

VII International Congress on Hazelnut

P.M. Marras, L. Loru, R.A. Pantaleoni

hazelnut, longhorn beetle, adult flight period, young shoots, pruning

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2009.845.72