KTSmith
Branched out member
- Location
- Maine, New Hampshire
Greetings Josh T, welcome to the Buzz!
Given the heavy deposit of sawdust and the host genus, I'd start with the pine ambrosia beetle. Are you sure those are pines? The bark looks a bit spruce-y to me. No matter. That group of beetles makes many very small holes. The precise species of beetle is beyond my skill, even if I had one in front of me. They usually go for declining trees that are stressed by other causes.
Now, are you in Chelsea, MI? MSU Extension is pretty good with guides and free information. To my knowledge, there is not a good chemical control strategy to employ. I'd recommend you get an on-the-ground assessment by a certified arborist. A good consulting forester could probably help with this as well.
As an aside which is not so very useful, the ambrosia beetles do not gain nutrition from the wood directly. Rather, they cultivate fungi that line those small and sometimes deep radial tunnels and then the larvae and perhaps adults browse the fungal growth. Interestingly, the fungi involved are phylogenetically diverse. That is, they are pretty unrelated to each except for their relationship with the beetles who provide them nice cozy quarters and perhaps some essential elements. So it is a mutualistic, symbiotic relationship.
Not much help, I'm afraid.
Given the heavy deposit of sawdust and the host genus, I'd start with the pine ambrosia beetle. Are you sure those are pines? The bark looks a bit spruce-y to me. No matter. That group of beetles makes many very small holes. The precise species of beetle is beyond my skill, even if I had one in front of me. They usually go for declining trees that are stressed by other causes.
Now, are you in Chelsea, MI? MSU Extension is pretty good with guides and free information. To my knowledge, there is not a good chemical control strategy to employ. I'd recommend you get an on-the-ground assessment by a certified arborist. A good consulting forester could probably help with this as well.
As an aside which is not so very useful, the ambrosia beetles do not gain nutrition from the wood directly. Rather, they cultivate fungi that line those small and sometimes deep radial tunnels and then the larvae and perhaps adults browse the fungal growth. Interestingly, the fungi involved are phylogenetically diverse. That is, they are pretty unrelated to each except for their relationship with the beetles who provide them nice cozy quarters and perhaps some essential elements. So it is a mutualistic, symbiotic relationship.
Not much help, I'm afraid.
Kevin, some of the hard pines have platey bark like that. Josh, when you say "There are several surrounding that look fine", in the first photo I see an inordinate number of branches that are losing their leaves (needles). You'd expect some of the lowest branches that are getting shaded out to lose their needles but not those branches that occupy the upper canopy, this would suggest decline. Also, I can see pitch tubes with associated resin streaming on the lower bole of the second photo along with the piles of fine, white boring dust which could suggest Ambrosia beetle as Kevin suggested. You may want to have a forester assess the health of the stand and selectively remove the most heavily infested individuals (brood trees) and get off-site, then begin an annual spray regiment on the remaining individuals you're trying to save. An anti-aggregate pheromone like Verbenone could help along with the chemical treatment. Also, the second photo shows a branch at the soil level which could suggest the tree is planted too deep, so I would perform a RCX and check for the trunk flare.
Yep have it looked at. Bark beetles and ambrosias tend to attack the weak and stressed so removing to worst of the worst before they start looking for new digs may be best.
They'll tell you if they're in a part of their lifecycle where strong trunk sprays may help at this point or not. Cultural stress management (deep watering if hot and dry if possible, mulch/debris layer helps) for the rest to alleviate stress
They'll tell you if they're in a part of their lifecycle where strong trunk sprays may help at this point or not. Cultural stress management (deep watering if hot and dry if possible, mulch/debris layer helps) for the rest to alleviate stress
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