Southern Pine Beetle (Pine Bark Beetle)
Dendroctonus frontalis
Range: Southeastern United States, expanding north; related bark beetles range across the WestSee it on the alert map
Symptoms & signs
- Fading crown color from green to yellow to red-brown, often spreading tree-to-tree in expanding 'spots'
- popcorn-like white-to-pink pitch tubes on the bark
- S-shaped, winding 'serpentine' galleries packed under the bark (with characteristic egg galleries)
- boring dust in bark crevices and at the base
- rapid tree death
Treatment & management
- Outbreak management hinges on rapid detection and 'cut-and-remove' suppression of infested spots plus a buffer to halt spread
- Thin overstocked stands to keep pines vigorous and less attractive
- Preventive insecticide bark sprays protect high-value individual trees
- systemic options are limited
- Remove and process infested stems quickly
Host species
Common questions
What are the popcorn-like blobs on my pine trunk?
Those are pitch tubes, the resin a pine pushes out as bark beetles bore in. White or pink popcorn-sized tubes plus a fading crown strongly indicate an active bark beetle attack.
Can I save a pine once bark beetles are in it?
Rarely — by the time the crown fades, the tree is usually lost. Management focuses on quickly removing infested trees to stop the beetles spreading, and on keeping nearby pines vigorous and protected.
Related pests
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