Bark beetle - Anisandrus(Xyleborus) dispar ♀

The unequal bark beetle Anisandrus (Xyleborus) dispar belongs to the group of bark beetles. The male beetle is about 1,5 to 2 mm long, whereas the female beetle is clearly larger, measuring in length 3 to 3,5 mm (hence the name „unequal“). The dark brown to black shiny beetle belongs to wood breeders,whose characteristic feeding galleries reach up to deeper layers of the wood.

The eggs are deposited in feeding galleries. The larvae live from the mycelium of a symbiotic Ambrosia fungus, cultivated by the beetles in the gallery system.The beetle lives on many deciduous trees, preferably weakened plants, and is particularly feared in orchards.