Another new exotic bark beetle in Florida: Ernoporus parvulus (Eggers, 1943) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), with additional taxonomic changes

The bark beetle, Ernoporus parvulus (Eggers, 1943) was collected from Pinellas County, Florida, USA representing the first North American record of the genus. Two species previously described from the Caribbean were examined and are synonymous: Ernoporus minutus (Bright & Torres, 2006) syn. nov. and E. exquisitus (Bright, 2019) syn. nov. This beetle is likely an overlooked exotic from Africa, known only from sea hibiscus, Talipariti tiliaceum (L.) Fryxell (Malvaceae). There is no evidence that this is a threat to commercial or ornamental Hibiscus and related species. Bark and ambrosia beetles are some of the insects most frequently intercepted at international ports of entry, accounting for an estimated 60% of intercepted woodborers in the United States (Haack 2006). There has been a steady accumulation of adventive species being reported in North America, facilitated by the investment in monitoring schemes, and to the development of resources and expertise for identification. These reports are important because bark and ambrosia beetles play a disproportionate role in catastrophic diseases in forests and are establishing at an alarming rate. The process of collecting new exotic scolytines often relies on extensive trapping programs (e.g., Rabaglia et al. 2019). However, many of these species are not attracted to such traps, and it is not economical to develop and utilize specific traps for all possible species. Therefore, discovery of these new exotics sometimes relies on reports of damage or incidental discoveries by experts, growers, or regulatory officials. At Fort De Soto Park, Pinellas County, Florida, several hanging twigs of sea hibiscus or mahoe, Talipariti tiliaceum (L.) Fryxell (Malvaceae) had numerous tiny circular holes, indicating the presence of a small bark beetle with

Automated summary

This study reports the first North American record of the bark beetle Ernoporus parvulus collected from Pinellas County, Florida, USA. Two previously described Caribbean species, Ernoporus minutus and E. exquisitus, were found to be synonymous. These beetles are likely overlooked exotics from Africa.