Tree physiology and bark beetles

Host-Tree Chemistry Affecting Colonization in Bark Beetles

Interactions of Root Disease and Bark Beetles

Associations between root diseases and bark beetles (Scolytidae) constitute some of the most serious pest complexes affecting forests in North America and elsewhere. The interactive functioning of these pests derives from the following relationships: 1) root diseases predispose trees to bark beetle infestation by lowering resistance, and perhaps increasing attractiveness, of trees to the attack...

Trees Wanted—Dead or Alive! Host Selection and Population Dynamics in Tree-Killing Bark Beetles

Bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) feed and breed in dead or severely weakened host trees. When their population densities are high, some species aggregate on healthy host trees so that their defences may be exhausted and the inner bark successfully colonized, killing the tree in the process. Here we investigate under what conditions participating with unrelated conspecifics i...

Dispersal variability and associated population-level consequences in tree-killing bark beetles.

BACKGROUND Dispersal is a key process in the response of insect populations to rapidly changing environmental conditions. Variability among individuals, regarding the timing of dispersal initiation and travelled distance from source, is assumed to contribute to increased population success through risk spreading. However, experiments are often limited in studying complex dispersal interactions ...

Sex attractants in frass from bark beetles.

Shortly after Kangas et al. (1) reported that a-terpineol was the major component of a primary host attractant for Blastophagus piniperda L., Silverstein, Rodin, and Wood (2) revealed the identity of three other terpene alcohols that play a role in the orientation of bark beetles. However, Silverstein et al. concluded, from laboratory bioassay, that a mixture of the three terpene alcohols they ...