Potential flight capability of the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae).

The emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is a wood-boring beetle of ash (Fraxinus spp.) trees in China. In order to evaluate the potential flight capability of EAB, we determined the flight performance of male and female EAB adults at various mating stages, ages, feeding and resting periods as well as different photoperiods using a flight-mill system. The result show that the maximum flight distance of a female adult was 5 500 m and 1 397 m for a male adult among all the test insects during a 24 h testing period. 1) Females tended to fly longer distances than males;. 2) female adults flew farther when held under 24 h constant light than in a 16 light hrs/8 dark hrs photoperiod regime; 3 ) mated females flew farther than unmated ones with a statistically significant difference; 4) there was no significant difference between mated and unmated males in terms of flight distance; 5) females that were fed and rested flew significantly farther than those not fed or not rested; 6) for females at different ages, 1-day-old females flew the shortest distance while 13-day-old ones flew the farthest. Flying distances increased with the age of 1- to 2-day-old females, decreased in 2-to 4-day-old females and increased in 4- to 13-day-old females. Our study suggests that EAB adults have the potential capability of long distance flights, which provides evidence in assessing the spread and risks of this insect species.