Pine bark beetles?

[Fuddyduddy1952]

45 years ago I planted white pine every 10ft. along road for privacy. Just now (it's getting dark) I noticed one is dead. They're maybe 2ft. across (my #13 shoe). At the base is fine sawdust and I hear a chewing sound!!!!!
I assume it's pine bark beetles and all I can do is cut it down? Curious anything to do about other living trees?

 

[Fixastuff]

I thought they only went after damaged trees not killed good ones. They really make an impressive crunching sound when eating and have super long antennas.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

The trees have gotten large and I always kept limbs cut about a foot over from the edge of road. Down the road a couple miles is a bad neighbor who complained to VDOT (Virginia highway dept) limbs were too close. That guy's yard is a dump...junk trucks on dirt & a trailer. VDOT cut limbs up to the trunk up about 12ft.
Maybe that's it.

 

[oldballs]

50 years ago I plated 50 each...White Pine, Scots Pine and Austrian pine. About the time that they were mature all of them gradualy got some pine bettle disease and now all but about six have died and put me in the tree removal business....chain saws...pole saws....wedges.....rope....burn piles...stump grinder...etc
The 50 Red Cedars are doing OK.....except for the bag worm problems..........and Cedar Apple rust........

Cheers,
Mike

 

[number two]

Wife calls then stink bugs!
50 acres of red pines here,and they've killed more than a few!

 

[jyoutz]

I thought they only went after damaged trees not killed good ones. They really make an impressive crunching sound when eating and have super long antennas.

Those are wood borers not pine beetles that you’re describing, and they do only bore into dead wood.

Pine bark beetles are tiny, about 1/8-1/4” and they bore under the cambium of live trees and kill them. Sometimes the trees will “pitch them out” with sap if the trees are real vigorous. But if the trees are stressed or there is a very high beetle population, they will overwhelm the tree’s defenses and kill them. If you have a beetle killed tree, you need to remove it asap before the larvae hatch into new beetles and go out to attack other trees. The easiest way to kill the larvae under the bark is to cut the lengths into firewood and cover the pile completely with a plastic tarp. The heat from the sun will kill the larvae. The tree can also be used as sawtimber if it’s debarked soon after cutting. Debarking will kill the larvae.

 

[Fixastuff]

Thanks for getting me straight. This is the dude I was talking about. Really had some attitude to go along with the chompers. lol.

 

[ruffdog]

If it is the Canker, you are going to lose more of the trees. Can you see a bunch of white sappy stuff on the side of the trunk like the pictures in this site?

PEST ALERT: Pitch Canker on White Pine - Ecological Landscape Alliance

 

[jyoutz]

View attachment 884008View attachment 884009Thanks for getting me straight. This is the dude I was talking about. Really had some attitude to go along with the chompers. lol.

Yeah those are definitely wood borers. They bore large holes in dead wood and you can hear them chomping. I’ve had them emerge from firewood in the house.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

If it is the Canker, you are going to lose more of the trees. Can you see a bunch of white sappy stuff on the side of the trunk like the pictures in this site?

PEST ALERT: Pitch Canker on White Pine - Ecological Landscape Alliance

Yes

 

[ruffdog]

Yeah those are definitely wood borers. They bore large holes in dead wood and you can hear them chomping. I’ve had them emerge from firewood in the house.

Up here, we get the red-headed ash borer that drills little round holes in our firewood.

 

[TractorGunn]

45 years ago I planted white pine every 10ft. along road for privacy. Just now (it's getting dark) I noticed one is dead. They're maybe 2ft. across (my #13 shoe). At the base is fine sawdust and I hear a chewing sound!!!!!
I assume it's pine bark beetles and all I can do is cut it down? Curious anything to do about other living trees?
View attachment 883978View attachment 883979

Adonis 2F Insecticide is supposed to work. I thought bayer tree and shrub would but they recommend this instead.

 

[jyoutz]

45 years ago I planted white pine every 10ft. along road for privacy. Just now (it's getting dark) I noticed one is dead. They're maybe 2ft. across (my #13 shoe). At the base is fine sawdust and I hear a chewing sound!!!!!
I assume it's pine bark beetles and all I can do is cut it down? Curious anything to do about other living trees?
View attachment 883978View attachment 883979

Do you have small holes with sawdust coming out and some holes oozing pitch? If so, they are a bark beetle of some species.

 

[jyoutz]

Up here, we get the red-headed ash borer that drills little round holes in our firewood.

Yep. There are lots of different wood borer species and many just work on one species of tree or just conifers.

 

[TractorGunn]

View attachment 884008View attachment 884009Thanks for getting me straight. This is the dude I was talking about. Really had some attitude to go along with the chompers. lol.

That doesn't look like a pine bark beetle, at least according to pics online.

 

[ruffdog]

Here, once the Canker is in a White Pine, it will die in time. If the Canker is on one branch, cut it and burn it. If it is on the main trunk, there is no hope. Also:

White Pine Blister Rust

 

[jyoutz]

Adonis 2F Insecticide is supposed to work. I thought bayer tree and shrub would but they recommend this instead.

The only effective insecticide to prevent pine beetle attack is Lindane. But it only prevents attack and the entire trunk needs to be sprayed. It’s not practical. There is no insecticide that is effective once the beetles are already under the bark.

 

[jyoutz]

Here, once the Canker is in a White Pine, it will die in time. If the Canker is on one branch, cut it and burn it. If it is on the main trunk, there is no hope. Also:

White Pine Blister Rust

White pine bluster rust will make a swollen orange canker on a limb or the trunk. Your advice is correct for blister rust also.

 

[oosik]

I will occasionally loose a tree or two to pine bark beetles. I cut the tree down and burn it. The cost of using chemical would be prohibitive.

My adult beetles do not look like what fixastuff shows - post#7. The adults here are as big as your thumb and shiny, dark mahogany color.

 

[Fixastuff]

That doesn't look like a pine bark beetle, at least according to pics online.

Yes I was wrong about what this creature was.