Pest categorisation of Ips duplicatus

The Panel on Plant Health performed a pest categorisation of the double-spined bark beetle, Ips duplicatus (Sahlberg, 1836) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae), for the EU. I. duplicatus is a well-defined and distinguishable species, native to Europe and attacking mainly spruce (Picea spp.) but also observed on pine (Pinus spp.) and larch (Larix spp.). It is distributed in 15 EU Member States and is locally spreading in some of them. I. duplicatus is listed in Annex IIB of Council Directive 2000/29/EC. Protected zones are in place in Ireland, Greece and the United Kingdom. Wood, wood products, bark, and wood packaging material are considered as pathways for this pest, which is also able to disperse by flight. The insects mostly attacks scattered individual standing trees in the stands, often when the trees are weakened by dry conditions or by pathogens, and they very rarely infest fallen or cut logs. The males produce pheromones that attract conspecifics of both sexes. Each male attracts 1–5 females and they establish a brood system; each female produces 1–60 offspring. The insects also inoculate their hosts with pathogenic fungi. There are one to three generations per year. The current geographic range of I. duplicatus suggests that it is able to establish in most of the EU, including the protected zones, where its hosts are present. Sanitary thinning or clear-felling and pheromone trapping are the usual control methods. All criteria for consideration as potential protected zone quarantine pest are met. The criteria for considering I. duplicatus as a potential regulated non-quarantine pest are not met since plants for planting are not viewed as a pathway.