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 back to Twig Girdlers BiologyKnown as the "twig girdlers" in the USA and as the "corta palo" [cuts wood] (Bosq, 1950), "serrador" [one who saws], or "serruchador" [sawyer] (Delgado & Couturier, 2004) in Latin America, adult females of several genera in the tribe Onciderini (e.g., Ecthoea, Lochmaeocles, Oncideres, Psyllotoxus) girdle branches of various host trees. Unfortunately, bionomic data is unavailable for most genera in the tribe. However, based on morphological similarities, it is likely that additional genera within the tribe will also be discovered to exhibit girdling behavior.In the USA, the biology of the "hickory girdler," Oncideres c. cingulata, has been studied extensively by several authors. Adults of this species emerge from late August to early October (Solomon, 1995). Adult females girdle living branches by chewing a V-shaped groove with their mandibles completely around the branch, through the bark and phloem. Females then oviposit into the newly cut host material which usually falls to the forest floor. The life cycle is usually completed in one year (Linsley, 1940; Linsley & Chemsak, 1984). By girdling a living branch, females weaken a part of the healthy host tree, circumventing plant defense mechanisms and ensuring that valuable nutrients such as nitrogen remain trapped within the branch for the benefit of their larvae (Dillon & Dillon, 1945; Forcella, 1981; Forcella, 1984; Rice, 1995; Rogers, 1977). Several authors have also studied the biology of another North American species, the "huisache girdler," Oncideres pustulata (e.g., High, 1915; Hovore & Penrose, 1982; Rice, 1986; Rice, 1989). Additional studies on the biology of Oncideres were conducted by Duffy (1960) and Linsley (1961), as well as on the effects of O. humeralis on the number and size structure of its host plants in Brazil (Romero et al., 2005). Hovore & Penrose (1982) and Touroult (2004) recorded Cerambycidae species which emerged from branches girdled by Oncideres. |
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 Girdled trunk, Santa Cruz, Bolivia © E.H. Nearns |
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 © 2011-2015 Nearns, E.H., Lord, N.P., and K.B. Miller |
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