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Notes on the Distribution of the Exotic Ambrosia Beetle Amasa truncata (Erichson) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) in Southeastern Brazil

The ambrosia beetle Amasa truncata (Erichson, 1842) (Fig. 1) is native to Australia (Milligan 1969) and was first detected in Brazil in 2011 in the state of S~ao Paulo (22°49ʹ19.0ʹʹ S, 48°53ʹ35.5ʹʹW) (Flechtmann and Cognato 2011). The subsequent evolution of its spread through Brazil has not been reported. Here, we report two new localities for A. truncata in southeastern Brazil and provide a map of its distribution in South America (Fig. 2). Beetles were captured during field screening trials (data not shown) carried out in the states of S~ao Paulo and Minas Gerais. Sixteen specimens were captured in blacklight traps during 2012 and 2013 at the Estaç~ao Experimental de Ciências Florestais, owned by the Universidade de S~ao Paulo, Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz” (Anhembi, S~ao Paulo; 22°43ʹ31.9ʹʹ S 48°10ʹ26.4ʹʹW). This station contains remnants of cerrado (Brazilian savannah) vegetation and plantations of Eucalyptus urophylla S. T. Blake and Eucalyptus grandisW. Hill ex Maiden (Myrtaceae). Two additional individuals were captured in 2015 and 2016 with flight intercept traps deployed in a coffee (Coffea arabica L., Rubiaceae) plantation owned by IF Sul de Minas (Inconfidentes, Minas Gerais; 22°18ʹ39.5ʹʹ S 46°20ʹ09.2ʹʹ W). This coffee area is surrounded by remnants of Atlantic rainforest and plantations of Eucalyptus sp. This is a new state record for A. truncata in Brazil. Most specimens (88%) were collected during the months of September and October, the spring season in Brazil. This period of the year consists of higher temperatures and abundant rainfall. Almost 90% of the specimens were collected in a stand of E. grandis in Anhembi. In northern Uruguay, A. truncata was collected from a dying tree of E. grandis (Gómez et al. 2017). This could be a potential suitable host for the polyphagous A. truncata. However, to confirm this hypothesis, it is necessary to assay the breeding of the insect in the host wood. The distances between the central geographic point in which A. truncata was first detected in Brazil in 2011 and the new localities reported in the present study are 74.5 km and 270 km for Anhembi and Inconfidentes, respectively. The distance between Anhembi and Inconfidentes is almost 195 km. The increased distribution indicates that A. truncata is firmly established and actively spreading. Monitoring for this exotic species may be important, even though it is not yet considered a pest. All specimens of A. truncata were females. Voucher specimens were deposited in the private collection of HLR and in the “Museu de Entomologia da ESALQ” (www.me.esalq.usp.br) of the Universidade de S~ao Paulo, Piracicaba (CEAH). Specimens were databased with the registration codes 6960-1 to 6960-5. The photographs of insects were taken using a stereo microscope Leica M205C coupled with a camera Leica DFC 450. The digital photographs were enhanced using CorelDRAW 2018. The genus Amasa includes 41 species. The species mostly have an Oriental and Austro-Pacific distribution, containing 25 and 13 species each, respectively. The remaining species occurs in Afrotropical and Palearctic regions (Kirkendall et al. 2015). Amasa truncata is native to Australia and has been reported from Tasmania and New South Wales. It was first collected in New Zealand in 1968 (Milligan 1969; Flechtmann and Cognato 2011). To our knowledge, this species is present in five countries around the world, comprising Oceania and South America. In Brazil, A. truncata may be confused with the sympatric native Xyleborus neotruncatus Schedl, 1978, but A. truncata is distinguished by the presence of contiguous procoxae, a large antennal club with fairly pubescent second and third segments, and the truncated, glabrous, and flattened elytral declivity that has three punctured striae and