The usual method of detecting this
insect is by observing masses of pitch
(pitch tubes) on the bark of dying
pine trees. Adult beetles are tiny,
being 1/16 to 3/16 inch long, dark brown
to black cylindrical beetles. Diagnosis
of dead trees is made by the appearance
of the pattern of galleries that appears
S-shaped underneath the bark and outside
of the heartwood (in the
phloem-cambium layer).
Other
bark beetles that attack pine trees
include the black turpentine beetle,
Dendroctonus terebrans (Oliv.), and
engraver beetles (Ips species).
These beetles produce superficially
similar symptoms to those caused by
southern pine beetles on the trunk, but
may not result in rapid decline and
death of infested trees. The gallery
patterns of these beetles are not
S-shaped patterns.
Getting a beetle infestation under
control is imperative in a southeast
Texas neighborhood where Pines are the
predominant tree.
*Above information was taken from the
TAMU website.
