The bionomics of whitegrub species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) affecting commercial forestry re-establishment in representative areas of the South African summer-rainfall region

South African commercial forestry plants mainly Eucalyptus, Pinus and Acacia species. Invertebrate pests play a significant role in the establishment phase of these exotic trees. Whitegrubs, in particular, are known to affect seedling survival during this period. Their pest status and community structure patterns associated with slash and weed management regimes were recently reported for Acacia mearnsii in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province. We tested whether the effects of these regimes were congruent over a wider region (the South African summer-rainfall forestry area), including whitegrubs found on Eucalyptus and Pinus species, or if there were other possible factors that better explained the patterns of assembly. Seventeen trials were established in the KZN and Mpumalanga (MP) provinces from which whitegrubs were collected once a month for a period of one year. Multivariate analyses were performed to determine whitegrub prevalence, distribution, pest ranking and community structure patterns. Sixteen whitegrub morphospecies were found of which Maladera sp. 3, Pegylis sommeri, Schizonycha affinis, Maladera sp. 2, Adoretus ictericus, Maladera sp. 1, and the unknown M8, M12 and M14 had a high pest status with an accumulative prevalence of ～99%. Maladera sp. 3 was the most prevalent and widespread species. It was also the most important species attacking E. grandis and P. patula, whereas P. sommeri and S. affinis were the most important whitegrubs on A. mearnsii. Clustering analyses showed two spatial (regional 2× clusters] and locality 10×]) and one silvicultural (slash and weed management 9×]) patterns of whitegrub assembly. As expected, the slash and weed management clustered the whitegrub communities in the forestry area. However, the two regional clusters (KZN-Midlands, MP-South and KZN-Coastal) were preferred because they visually represented the whitegrub community distribution with a listing of high-status whitegrub species. This was meaningful enough to suggest the possible implementation of site-specific and practical control strategies.