An insect species invasive to Siberian forests, the Ussuri polygraph bark beetle (Polygraphus proximus Blandford), threatens natural fir plantations in Russia and has already penetrated into the border regions of Kazakhstan. This conclusion of scientists from the Federal Research Center "KSC SB RAS", Siberian Federal University, Altai and Tomsk State Universities and Institute of Forestry of RAS was reported by the press service of Siberian Federal University.

“In the natural habitat of the Far East, the bark beetle is a background species and attacks mainly weakened and wind-fallen fir trees. Far Eastern fir species have evolved over centuries along with the insect and developed natural defense mechanisms against it. When penetrating into Siberia, the polygraph showed itself to be an aggressive pest, capable of invading healthy trees of a new host plant - Siberian fir. Unfortunately, this type of fir turned out to be defenseless against this invasive insect. The pest came to Siberia through the so-called bridgehead effect, which implies arrival and further spread from intermediate points. Thus, the species penetrated into many regions of Siberia and crossed the Urals. In the summer of 2023, we discovered it as far as in the region of Kazakhstan, bordering the Altai Territory. By the way, in our Krasnoyarsk Region, foci of outbreaks of an uninvited guest have been recorded in fir forests for several years now. The Krasnoyarsk National Park “Stolby” is also affected,” said a co-author of the study Natalya Kirichenko, leading researcher at the V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS, Doctor of Biological Sciences.

Scientists confirmed the species identity of the pest from beetles and their remains extracted from under the bark of damaged Siberian fir trees in northeastern Kazakhstan. The researchers will conduct a molecular genetic analysis of the samples to understand which polygraph haplotypes were more successful in invading new areas.

Russian scientists believe that the results of the study should attract the attention of scientists and practitioners to the problem of the ongoing invasion of the alien bark beetle. Today it is important to take measures to stop the further spread of this dangerous invasive pest to new regions.

The research was carried out with the support of the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 22-16-00075 “Guardian of biosafety: early detection of dangerous and potentially invasive species of dendrophilous insects in the Asian part of Russia using modern ecological and molecular genetic approaches”).