Red sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus L.f.) is an economically important, endangered timber species endemic to the restricted forest tracts of the Eastern Ghats, India. Here, we report the occurrence of long horned beetle Xylotrechus smei (Laporte de Castelnau & Gory, 1841) infestation on red sanders for the first time in two plantations located in Telangana, India. Xylotrechus smei is an economically important polyphagous pest with over forty recorded hosts. In red sanders, the infestation percentage ranged from 0.63 to 2.5% across plantations. Infestation was characterized by gradual chlorosis starting from the lower crown followed by complete dying of standing trees, presence of galleries and bore holes in cut stems. In addition, supplementary description of X. smei, including the terminal abdominal segments and genitalia of the sexes, immatures and its illustrations are provided for more authentic identification of this important pest. Further, the identity of the insect as X. smei was confirmed through mtCOI based DNA barcode. Phylogenetic and sequence divergence analyses based on partial mtCOI gene sequence showed that X. smei isolate obtained in the current study was closely related to X. smei isolate WA13 10.01r that was intercepted in wood packaging material in one of the ports of entry of the United States (U.S.). Further studies on devising management strategies for X. smei in red sanders are needed for improving the quality and quantity of the economic produce.
