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Abstract
Ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are wood-boring pests in ornamental nurseries, fruit, and pecan orchards. Seasonal flight activity and species abundance were investigated in nurseries, fruit, and pecan orchards using ethanol-baited bottle traps. Xylosandrus crassiusculus (Motschulsky) and X. germanus (Blandford) were abundant pest species in all systems. Three experiments were done in 2019 and 2020 to improve monitoring to help refine management strategies. Phenology of ambrosia beetles was studied and results showed that flight activity was dependent on warmer temperatures in spring and continued intermittently throughout the growing season. When testing ethanol type and placement on wooden bolt traps, results showed greater attraction to bolts with ethanol added in the core than with ethanol pouch placed on the outside. The impact of age of ethanol lures on attractancy was evaluated, resulting in trap captures with eight-week-old ethanol pouches that were not significantly different from four-week-old pouches.