Red Turpentine Beetle
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Hosts
Ponderosa and lodgepole pine. Can infest any pine species and is infrequently found in other conifers.
Distribution
Wherever host species are found in Idaho and Montana.
Damage
Adults and larvae feed in phloem layer. Blue stain fungi are introduced; however, seldom are trees attacked in sufficient numbers to kill them. Typically, largest and weakest trees are attacked. Trees injured by fire, logging operations, or other damage are preferred.
Identification
Look for very large, red pitch tubes (fig. 35) concentrated around the basal 3 feet of tree. Egg galleries are irregular in shape but usually vertical and from one-eighth to one-fourth inch wide. Galleries may extend below ground line. Larvae feed in a mass from June to October and make a f an-shaped gallery (fig. 36). Adults are the largest in the genus averaging nearly three-eighths inch long, and are distinctly red-brown. Adults fly and attack from spring to midsummer.
Similar damages
May be mistaken for other bark beetles, but large "pitch tube," gallery, and size of beetle distinguish red turpentine beetle.
References
Anonymous. 1982. For. Insect & disease identification and management. USDA For. Serv., Northern Region; Idaho Dept. of Lands, Insect and Disease Control; Montana Dept. of State Lands, Division of Forestry. 192 p.
Furniss, R. L., and V. M. Carolin. 1977. Western For. Insects. USDA Forest Serv., Misc. pub. 1339, 654 p., illus.
Smith, R. H. 1961. Red turpentine beetle. USDA For. Serv., Forest Pest Leaflet 55, 8 p., illus. From: Field Guide to Diseases and Insect Pests of Idaho and Montana Forests, USDA Forest Service Northern Region, Publication Number R1-89-54
