The Emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) invaded Belarus
Abstract
The emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, 1888 (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), is a harmful East Asian insect pest damaging ash trees Fraxinus spp. Over the past three decades, it has invaded European part of Russia and Ukraine, causing widespread mortality of ash trees in both urban and natural ecosystems. Here, we report first occurrence of this devastating pest in Belarus, specifically in the city of Gomel. During reconnaissance survey performed in the late June 2025, a total of 46 ash trees, including 39 Fraxinus pennsylvanica and 7 F. excelsior trees, displayed characteristic symptoms of infestation: canopy dieback, epicormic sprouting, and distinct D-shaped exit holes in the bark. A single larva of the IV instar was found within a typical gallery beneath the bark, and 13 adult beetles mating and feeding on the foliage of both ash species were recorded. Given the proximity of infested regions in neighboring countries – specifically Bryansk (243 km away from Gomel) and Smolensk (270 km) in Russia, as well as Kiev (220 km) in Ukraine – it is suspected that the buprestid was accidentally introduced from some of these localities rather than expanding its range by itself. Urgent research is required to delineate the extent of its spread within Belarus. Moreover, decisive actions must be taken promptly to suppress current infestation foci and prevent further distribution of this highly aggressive alien pest.
Downloads
References
Alekseev VA (1989) Diagnostics of the vital state of trees and forest stands. Forest Science 4: 51–57. [In Russian]
Baranchikov Y, Mozolevskaya E, Yurchenko G, Kenis M (2008) Occurrence of the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis in Russia and its potential impact on European forestry. EPPO Bulletin 38: 233–238. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2338.2008.01210.x
Baranchikov YuN, Babichev NS, Speranskaya NYu, Demidko DA, Volkovitsh MG, Snigireva LS, Akulov EN, Kirichenko NI (2024b) Emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) in Altai (Southern Siberia). Siberian Forest Journal 5: 79–88. https://doi.org/10.15372/SJFS20240508 [In Russian]
Baranchikov YuN, Demidko DA, Zviagintsev VB, Seraya LG (2016) The Emerald ash borer in Moscow: dendrochronological reconstruction of the course of invasion. In: Proceedings of the II All-Russian Scientific Conference (with international participation), Moscow, October 25-27, 2016. Centre for Forest Ecology and Productivity of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 23–24. [In Russian]
Baranchikov YuN, Dobrolyubov NYu, Semenov SM (2024а) Changes in climatic range of the emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) in the Northern Hemisphere. Russian Journal of Biological Invasions 15(4): 480–490. https://doi.org/10.1134/S207511172470036X [In Russian]
Baranchikov YuN, Ponomarev VI (2024) Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, 1888) has reached the Caucasus. Industrial Botany 24(1): 69–72. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10845635 [In Russian]
Baranchikov YuN, Seraya LG (2018) Smolensk was conquered. And a long time ago: the emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) entered the city about ten years ago. The X Readings in memory of OA Kataev. Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg State Forest Technical University, 10. [In Russian]
Drogvalenko AN, Orlova-Bienkowskaja MJ, Bieńkowski AO (2019) Record of the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) in Ukraine is confirmed. Insects 10(10): 338. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects10100338
EPPO (2023) Agrilus planipennis in Kyiv, Ukraine is officially confirmed by NPPO. Newsletter of the EPPO Network of experts working on surveillance, monitoring, and control of the Emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis. France, Paris, No 3, EPPO, 2–3 p. https://www.eppo.int/media/uploaded_images/RESOURCES/special_projects/eab_newsletters/EAB_Newsletter-003-2023_12.pdf (accessed on 28 June 2025)
ESRI (2024) ArcGIS Desktop: ArcGIS Pro 3.1 software. Redlands, CA: Environmental Systems Research Institute. https://www.scirp.org/reference/ReferencesPapers?ReferenceID=1102852 (accessed on 28 June 2025)
Gninenko YuI, Klyukin MS, Hegai IV (2016) The Emerald ash borer: catastrophe post-poned. Quarantine of plants. Science and practice 3: 38–41.
Hultberga T, Sandström J, Felton A, Öhman K, Rönnberg J, Witzell J, Cleary M (2020) Ash dieback risks an extinction cascade. Biological Conservation 244: 108516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108516
Kolka RK, D’Amato AW, Wagenbrenner JW, Slesak RA, Pypker TG, Youngquist MB, Grinde AR, Palik BJ (2018) Review of ecosystem level impacts of emerald ash borer on black ash wetlands: what does the future hold? Forests 9(4): 179. https://doi.org/10.3390/f9040179
Meshkova V, Borysenko O, Kucheryavenko T, Skrylnyk Y, Davydenko K, Holusa J (2023) Potential westward spread of emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, 1888 (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) from Eastern Ukraine. Forests 14(4): 736. https://doi.org/10.3390/f14040736
Meshkova V, Borysenko O, Kucheryavenko T, Vysotska N, Skrylnyk Y, Davydenko K, Holusa J (2024) Forest site and stand structure affecting the distribution of emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, 1888 (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), in Eastern Ukraine. Forests 15(3): 511. https://doi.org/10.3390/f15030511
Mozolevskaya EG, Izhevsky SS (2007) Foci of the Emerald ash borer in the Moscow region. Plant Protection and Quarantine 5: 28–29. [In Russian]
Musolin DL, Selikhovkin AV, Shabunin DA, Zviagintsev VB, Baranchikov YN (2017) Between ash dieback and emerald ash borer: two Asian invaders in Russia and future of ashes in Europe. Baltic Forestry 23(1): 316–333.
Orlova-Bienkowskaja MJ, Bieńkowski AO (2016) The life cycle of the emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis in European Russia and comparisons with its life cycles in Asia and North America. Agricultural and Forest Entomology 18(2): 182–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/afe.12140
Orlova-Bienkowskaja MJ, Drogvalenko AN, Zabaluev IA, Sazhnev AS, Peregudova EY, Mazurov SG, Komarov EV, Struchaev VV, Martynov VV, Nikulina TV, Bieńkowski AO (2020) Current range of Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, an alien pest of ash trees, in European Russia and Ukraine. Annals of Forest Science 77: 29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-020-0930-z
Padutov AE, Maltsev NV, Kozhemyakina AP, Butkovets VV (2013) Arboreal and shrubby vegetation of the natural monument “Gomel Palace and Park Ensemble”. In: Proceedings of Gomel State University named after F. Skariny, Ser.: Natural Sciences 5: 122–129. [In Russian]
Rosselkhoznadzor (June 23, 2023) Quarantine for the emerald ash borer has been established in the Bryansk Region (Electronic resource). https://32.fsvps.gov.ru/news/v-brjanskoj-oblasti-ustanovlen-karantin-po-jasenevoj-izumrudnoj-zlatke/ (accessed on 28 June 2025) [In Russian]
Schrader G, Baker R, Baranchikov Y, Dumouchel L, Knight KS, McCullough DG, Orlova-Bienkowskaja MJ, Pasquali S, Gilioli G (2021) How does the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) affect ecosystem services and biodiversity components in invaded areas? EPPO Bulletin 51: 216–228. https://doi.org/10.1111/epp.12734
Shelukho VP (2021) Drying of common ash in Bryansk from the emerald ash borer. In: Current issues of modern science and education. Collection of articles of the VIII International Scientific and Practical Conference. Publishing House of Science and Enlightenment, Penza, 285–293. [In Russian]
Short MT, Chase KD, Feeley TE, Kees AM, Wittman JT, Aukema BH (2020) Rail transport as a vector of emerald ash borer. Agricultural and Forest Entomology 22: 92–97. https://doi.org/10.1111/afe.12360
Sun J, Koski TM, Wickham JD, Baranchikov YN, Bushley KE (2024) Emerald ash borer management and research: decades of damage and still expanding. Annual Review of Entomology 69: 239–258. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-012323-032231
Usenia V, Pomaz G (July 15, 2025) Emerald ash borer: a quarantine pest now in Belarus. Newspaper Navuka 29: 5. [In Russian]
Volkovitsh MG, Orlova-Bienkowskaja MJ, Kovalev AV, Bieńkowski AO (2020) An illustrated guide to distinguish emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) from its congeners in Europe. Forestry: an International Journal of Forest Research 93(2): 316–325. https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cpz024
Wagner DL, Todd KJ (2015) Ecological impacts of emerald ash borer. Biology and control of emerald ash borer. FHTET-2014-09. In: Van Driesche R, Duan J, Abell K, Bauer L, Gould J (Eds) USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team, Morgantown, 15–64.
Yarmosh VG, Zviagintsev VB (2024) The state of old-age tree plantations in historical parks of the Belarusian Polesie. Botany (research) 53: 50–58. [In Russian]
Zhadko SV (2011) Decorative plants of Gomel. In: Proceedings of Gomel State University named after F. Skariny. Ser. Natural Sciences 4: 129–133. [In Russian]
Zhorov DG, Vorobyeva MM (2024) Species composition of alien invasive phytophagous species in the conditions of green spaces of Gomel. In: Kovaleva OV (Ed.) Cross-border cooperation in the field of environmental safety and environmental protection. Proceedings of the VII International Scientific and Practical Conference. Gomel, June 6-7, 2024, Gomel State University named after F. Skorina. F. Skorina State University, Gomel, 94–98. [In Russian]
Zviagintsev VB, Baranov OY, Panteleev SV (2015) The prevalence of necrosis of ash branches caused by the invasive pathogen Hymenoscyphus fraxineus Baral et al. in the Moscow Oblast and along the highway M1. Current Mycology in Russia 5(1), Chapter 10: 413–414. https://doi.org/10.14427/cmr.2015.v.10 [In Russian]
Copyright (c) 2025 Vyacheslav B. Zviagintsev, Natalia I. Kirichenko, Maxim I. Chernik, Lidia G. Seraya, Yuri N. Baranchikov
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Acta Biologica Sibirica is a golden publisher, as we allow self-archiving, but most importantly we are fully transparent about your rights.
Authors may present and discuss their findings ahead of publication: at biological or scientific conferences, on preprint servers, in public databases, and in blogs, wikis, tweets, and other informal communication channels.
ABS allows authors to deposit manuscripts (currently under review or those for intended submission to ABS) in non-commercial, pre-print servers such as ArXiv.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
