Evaluation of Stem-Injected TREE-äge® (4% Emamectin Benzoate) for Protecting Western White Pines (Pinus monticola) from Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins)(Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae)

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 333-346
Author(s):  
Joseph Doccola ◽  
Sheri Smith ◽  
Joseph Fischer ◽  
Brian Strom
Keyword(s):  
Bark Beetles ◽  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Dendroctonus Ponderosae ◽  
Pathogenic Fungi ◽  
Tree Age ◽  
Pinus Monticola ◽  
Emamectin Benzoate ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle

The protection of high-value trees against bark beetles and the development of alternatives to bole sprays is a priority for the tree manager. The objective of this study was to evaluate stem-injected TREE-äge® (emamectin benzoate [EB]) as a protective treatment for western white pines (Pinus monticola Dougl. ex D. Don) against mountain pine beetle (MPB, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins). Treatment efficacy was based solely on tree mortality as per Shea protocols (i.e., ≥ 60% check vs. ≤ 20% treated tree mortality). Our first experiment was installed in 2007 and included trees stem-injected with TREE-äge and untreated controls. Bole application of S-(-)-verbenone and green leaf volatile (GLV) blend was included for observational comparison. Pressure from MPB was heavy, as indicated by the number and timing of control tree mortality (90%). Strip attacks by MPB in TREE-äge trees indicated that the impacts of EB, and by inference its distribution, were inconsistent. In 2009, the injection protocol was revised to improve EB distribution in the phloem via closer injection points. In the 2009 TREE-äge-treated trees, adult beetle mining stopped when they contacted phloem and was insufficient to cause tree death by girdling. Blue-stain fungi colonized the sapwood of trees in both studies. Isolates from autopsied trees treated with TREE-äge alone were subsequently identified as Grosmannia clavigera and Leptographium longiclavatum (Ophiostomatales: Ascomycota), species that can incite tree mortality. In 2013, we revised our protocol to include GLV plus verbenone or propiconazole with TREE-äge, wherein these treatments proved effective in protecting trees against MPB and their associated pathogenic fungi.

Acoustics of the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) (Curculionidae, Scolytinae): sonic, ultrasonic, and vibration characteristics

2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 235-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.J. Fleming ◽  
A.A. Lindeman ◽  
A.L. Carroll ◽  
J.E. Yack
Keyword(s):  
Bark Beetles ◽  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Dendroctonus Ponderosae ◽  
Laser Doppler Vibrometer ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Acoustic Signaling ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
Close Range ◽  
Low Amplitude

Acoustic signaling is widespread in bark beetles (Scolytinae), although little is known about the physical characteristics of signals, how they are transmitted, and how they differ among behavioural contexts. Signals were studied in the male mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, 1902) during stress, male–female, and male–male interactions. Sounds are broadband with significant energy in the ultrasound (peaks between 15 and 26 kHz) and low amplitude (55 and 47 dB SPL at 2 and 4 cm, respectively), indicating that signaling functions at close range. Signal trains vary among contexts primarily in the proportions of chirp types. Chirps were categorized as being simple or interrupted, with the former having significantly lower tooth strike rates and shorter chirp durations. Stress chirps are predominantly simple with characteristics resembling other insect disturbance signals. Male–female interactions begin with the male producing predominantly interrupted chirps prior to gallery entrance, followed by simple chirps. Male–male (rivalry) chirps are predominantly simple, with evidence of antiphonal calling. Substrate-borne vibrations were detectable with a laser-doppler vibrometer at short distances (1–3 cm), suggesting that sensory organs could be tuned to either air or substrate-borne vibrations. These results have important implications for future research on the function and reception of acoustic signals in bark beetles.

scholarly journals Patterns of Diversity in the Symbiotic Mite Assemblage of the Mountain Pine Beetle, Dendroctonus Ponderosae Hopkins

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1102
Author(s):  
Sneha Vissa ◽  
Javier E. Mercado ◽  
Danielle Malesky ◽  
Derek A. Uhey ◽  
Boyd A. Mori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Insect Pests ◽  
Species Turnover ◽  
Dendroctonus Ponderosae ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Host Tree ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle

The mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae (Coleoptera: Scolytinae), is an economically important bark beetle species with a wide geographic range spanning from the southwestern United States into northern Canada. This beetle causes extensive tree mortality to 13 pine species. Mites (Acari) are common and abundant symbionts of mountain beetles that may influence their fitness through positive and negative interactions. We present a unique assessment of the mite associates of mountain pine beetles using measures of alpha and beta diversity. We sampled phoretic mites from five beetle populations: Arizona, Colorado, South Dakota, Utah (USA), and Alberta (Canada) that varied in host tree species, local climate, and beetle population level. We collected 4848 mites from 8 genera and 12 species. Fifty to seventy percent of beetles carried mites in flight with the highest mite loads occurring in middle and southern populations; decreasing in northern populations. Mite assemblages (i.e., both richness and composition) varied along a south to north latitudinal gradient and were driven by species turnover (i.e., species replacement). Differences in mite composition increased with distance between populations. We discuss climatic variation, environmental filtering, and host tree differences as factors that could affect differences in mite composition between beetle populations and discuss implications for functional shifts. Our results could represent a model for estimating diversity patterns of mite symbionts associated with other major insect pests in coniferous forest systems.

scholarly journals Within-Stand Distribution of Tree Mortality Caused by Mountain Pine Beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 112 ◽  
Author(s):  
José F. Negrón
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Dendroctonus Ponderosae ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Mountain Pine Beetles ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
Pine Beetles ◽  
Stand Conditions

The mountain pine beetle (MPB) (Dendroctonus ponderosae) is a bark beetle that attacks and kills ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), among other pine species throughout the western conifer forests of the United States and Canada, particularly in dense stands comprising large trees. There is information on the stand conditions that the insect prefers. However, there is a paucity of information on how small-scale variation in stand conditions influences the distribution of tree mortality within a stand. I examined the small-scale distribution of ponderosa pine basal area pre- and post a mountain pine beetle infestation, and used geostatistical modeling to relate the spatial distribution of the host to subsequent MPB-caused tree mortality. Results indicated increased mortality in the denser parts of the stand. Previous land management has changed historically open low-elevation ponderosa pine stands with aggregated tree distribution into dense stands that are susceptible to mountain pine beetles and intense fires. Current restoration efforts are aimed at reducing tree density and leaving clumps of trees, which are more similar to historical conditions. The residual clumps, however, may be susceptible to mountain pine beetle populations. Land managers will want to be cognizant of how mountain pine beetles will respond to restoration treatments, so as to prevent and mitigate tree mortality that could negate restoration efforts.

RESPONSE OF THE MOUNTAIN PINE BEETLE, DENDROCTONUS PONDEROSAE HOPKINS, TO ETHANOL IN A LABORATORY OLFACTOMETER

1987 ◽  
Vol 119 (5) ◽  
pp. 489-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Syed ◽  
K. Graham
Keyword(s):  
Bark Beetles ◽  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Dendroctonus Ponderosae ◽  
Douglas Fir ◽  
Host Recognition ◽  
Aggregation Pheromones ◽  
Trypodendron Lineatum ◽  
Ambrosia Beetles ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle

Graham (1968) demonstrated that logs became attractive to ambrosia beetles after the sapwood was subjected to anaerobic conditions. Pursuing this lead, Cade et al. (1970) and Moeck (1970a, 1970b, 1971) extracted, analyzed, and bioassayed anaerobic products from western hemlock and Douglas-fir trees and ascertained that ethanol was the principal “primary attractant” to the ambrosia beetles, Gnathotrichus sulcatus (LeConte) and Trypodendron lineatum (Olivier), respectively. The demonstration that ethanol enhanced the response of the Douglas-fir beetle, Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins, to its aggregation pheromones frontalin and seudenol (Pitrnan et al. 1975) suggested that ethanol could also be involved in the primary attraction of or host recognition by bark beetles. We report that the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, is arrested to ethanol in a laboratorv olfactometer.

Growth and virulence of mountain pine beetle associated blue-stain fungi, Ophiostoma clavigerum and Ophiostoma montium

1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 561-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Halvor Solheim ◽  
Paal Krokene
Keyword(s):  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Dendroctonus Ponderosae ◽  
Oxygen Deficiency ◽  
Malt Agar ◽  
Pinus Monticola ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
Blue Stain Fungi ◽  
Blue Stain ◽  
Ophiostoma Montium

The mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) is commonly associated with the blue-stain fungi Ophiostoma clavigerum and Ophiostoma montium. Ophiostoma clavigerum is the primary invader of sapwood after beetle infestation and is thought to be the most virulent of the two fungi. Growth of these fungi was studied under oxygen-deficient conditions on malt agar in test tubes and Petri dishes. In addition, growth was studied in phloem and sapwood of young living shore pines (Pinus contorta var. contorta) and western white pines (Pinus monticola) inoculated with fungus in low densities (eight inoculations per tree). In test tubes with limited oxygen O. clavigerum grew for a longer time than O. montium. Both fungi are fast growing on malt agar (maximum growth 4.4-9.0 mm/day), but O. clavigerum grew better at temperatures below 25°C. The rapid growth and the ability to tolerate low oxygen levels may be important adaptations for O. clavigerum as the primary invader of fresh sapwood. However, although O. clavigerum grew better in the phloem of both tree species, there were no differences between the two fungi in their ability to colonize the sapwood of the inoculated trees.Key words: blue-stain fungi, Dendroctonus ponderosae, growth rate, oxygen deficiency, virulence.

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