Resumen de Biometric traits of Xylotrechus arvicola adults from laboratory and grape fields
Álvaro Rodríguez González, Horacio J. Peláez Rivera, Sara Mayo Prieto, Óscar González López, Pedro Antonio Casquero Luelmo
Xylotrechus arvicola is a pest in vineyard in Iberian Peninsula. The action of the larvae, associated to the spread of wood fungi, causes a direct and indirect damage in the crop. This article presents for first time the different biometric traits of Xylotrechus arvicola populations adults captured in three grape fields with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) from Iberian Peninsula and one population of this beetle obtained in laboratory. For adults captured in field intersexual differences were found for the length and width of the pronotum, the length and width of the elytra and total length. The females always had longer biometric traits than males and the males captured in grape fields had a more stylized look than females. The adults captured in PDO Toro, with traditional in vaso training system, were larger than the other PDOs, leading to higher galleries and exit holes what could affect to the structural resistance of the plant and increasing the pathogenic fungi infection. This training system facilitates the renovation of attacked branches, which is more difficult and slower in the bilateral cordon training system. The final size of insect bodies reflected the volume of material that had been used as host and the state of habitat conservation where they had been developed. The controlled condition developments and the greater volume by larva were the reasons why the average size of adult bodies obtained in laboratory was higher than those captured in grape field.
