Insects Attacking Forest Products

Introduction

Much damage to timber and finished wood products

Damage to cut timber and finished products especially serious because damage comes after much investment

Estimated – 1-5 % annual cut

Insects attacking living trees

Insects attacking cut trees

Insects attacking wood in use

Asian Longhorned Beetle

Anoplophora glabripennis

Newly introducedinsect menace

EggLarva4 instarsPupaAdult

AsianLonghornedBeetleLife cycle

Beetlesspendmost oflife intree.

Verydifficultdo control

Beetle exitholes are ½ inor more in diameter

Adults can fly100’s of feet toinfest new trees

Damage / ID

Asian longhornedBeetle damage

Dead brancheson Asian LHBinfested tree

Hosts:

BoxelderMaples – Many speciesHorse chestnutMulberryPoplar – Many speciesBlack LocustWillow – several speciesElm - Chinese

Asian Longhorned beetle is unusual:

1) It attacks healthy trees

2) It spends major part of life cycle in Phloem, not Xylem

3) It kills healthy trees

4) Adults feed on the twig bark of healthy trees. Wounds serve as entry sites for pathogens.

4th instar larvae and/or pupae commonly infest wood used forshipping crates and arrive alive in US.

Untreated wood is commonly used for shipping crates andpallets = ‘dunage’

Difficult inspection job for APHIS Officials

Serious insect and political problem

First found in Brooklyn, NY - 1996

Second infestation found in Long Island, NY in 1996

Later, in 1999 found in Chicago, IL

2002 – established infestation in Jersey City, New York

Quarantined area within a 1.5 mile radius of site – all trees were cut & burned

Asian longhorned beetle

Video of Asian Longhorned beetle

Management & Control

Quarantines, fines!

Management & Control

Cut infested trees and burn.

Clear cut trees around infestation.

Strengthened importation rules on crates using wood & dunage.

Believed to be eradicated & not yet established.

Emerald ash borer: Newly introduced pest

•Discovered 2002 in Michigan •Attacks all species of Fraxinus, as well as some Ulmus, & Juglans spp.Larval galleries girdle branches and trees

•Trees often die 2-3 years afterInfestation

•Established!

Since 2002: Emerald Ash Borer

• Killed at least 8 - 10 million ash trees in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Most of the mortality is in southeastern Michigan.

• Resulted in quarantines in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan and fines to prevent infested ash trees, logs or firewood from moving out of areas where EAB occurs. 

• Cost municipalities, property owners, nursery operators and forest products industries tens of millions of dollars.

Emerald Ash Borer: Signs/Symptoms

• Distinct, D-shaped exit holes in the bark• Serpentine-shaped tunnels under the

bark on the surface of the wood• Young sprout growth clustered at the

base of the tree• Unusual activity by woodpeckers• Die-back on the top third of the tree• Vertical splits in the bark

Emerald ash borer – stages/damage

Management & Control

1. Quarantine of wood/trees Intra- and Inter-state from Michigan with stiff fines

2. Early detection in quarantined areas

3.Eradication of infested material

4.Researching possible insecticide use – expensive and difficult

Insects attacking recently cut trees

Ambrosia Beetles

Early observers noted droplets of a fluid in the beetle galleries. Called it “ambrosia” hence their name

Found in both conifer and hardwoodtree species

General Feeding Habits of Ambrosia Beetles

1. Invade wood but do not feed on phloem or xylem

2. Inoculate galleries in the xylem with fungus, adults and larvae feed on mycelium

Ambrosia beetle stages & damage

Ambrosia beetles attack:

•Felled trees•Weakened trees•Logs & green lumber

•Entire shipments damaged

•Degrade wood valueSmall holesFungal stains

Ambrosia beetle immatures in “cradles”

Larva PupaNew Adult

Main galleryPupa

Damage

Holes / Staining

Staining in veneer log

Many customers demand high quality, defect free lumber.

Especially the export markets

Holes in wood, or stains not acceptable.Bundled timber with insect damage must be unpacked, sorted repacked.

Management for beetles expensive and adds to lumber costs.

Ambrosia Beetle

Striped Ambrosia Beetle - Conifers

Trypodendron lineatum

Degrades wood of all conifer species

•Over-winters in stump & logging debris

•Flies in spring to felled trees or logs

•Females produce pheromone / mate

•Tunnels into sap wood of tree and lays eggs in the “Cradles”

•Inoculates fungus which stains wood black

•Mycelia gardens – food for larvae & adults

Insect Biology

Beautiful Damage?

1. Timber must be used & processed quickly / kiln dry

2. Keep wood wet - sprinklers

3. Use insecticides or repellants on log decks.

4. Set pheromones away from deck

(Last two steps significantly increase lumber costs)

Management

Primary southern pine Ambrosia beetle

Platypus flavicornis

Attacks weakened, dying or fresh cut pines.

Attack pine bark beetle killed trees within 5-10 days.

Infest sapwood and heart wood by the hundreds of insects.

Produces piles of fluffy, white boring dust at base of infested trees.

Reduce value of salvaged timber.

Ambrosia Beetle boring dust

•Timber must be used & processed quickly / kiln dry

•Get to beetle spots quickly

•Keep wood wet

Management Platypus flavicornis

While most ambrosia beetles attackweakened, dying or dead trees.

The Columbian timber beetle prefers healthy trees.

Ambrosia Beetles in Hardwoods

Columbian Timber BeetleCorthylus columbianus

Over-winters in litter layer & flies in spring to healthy trees

Males produce pheromone to attract females

Female tunnels in sapwood and lays eggs in “cradles’

2-3 generations / year

Fungal stains – extend several cm from galleries

Degrades wood quality so it can’t be used for Veneer or Furniture

Insect Biology

Columbia Timber beetles

Columbian Timber Beetle Damage

•No effective control available

•Usually controlled by not selecting infested trees or culling on log decks

Management - Columbian Ambrosia Beetle

Flatheaded Borers orMetallic Wood Borers

Flatheaded Borer Larva – note “V”

Round-headed Borers orLonghorned borers

Locust Borer Adult - Cerambycidae

Borer Damage on Black Locust

Cottonwood Borer Adult

Longhorned Borer: Adults, larvae & damage

Insects attacking wood in use

Powderpost beetles Coleoptera

AdultLyctus sp

Powderpost beetle damage

Powderpost beetle damage

ChlorpyrifosCyfluthrinCypermethrinPermethrin

Carpenter Ants Order – Hymenoptera

Carpenter ant damage

Carpenter Bee & damage

•Unpainted/stained wood•Paint/stain•Chlorpyrifos etc•Tennis racket

Native Subterranean Termites Order – Dictyoptera or Isoptera

Must have access to moisture.

Barriers installed in homes.

Soil treatments:CypermethrinFenvalarateImidacloprid

Formosan Subterranean TermitesIntroduced from Asia

Doesn’t need access to moisture: 25% w/o soil contact.

Barriers installed in homes don’t work.

•Larger colonies•More aggressive•Summer/Spring wood•Chew through plastic, asphalt and soft metal

Current range of FST

Drywood Termites Order – Dictyoptera or Isoptera

•Need little orno water•Smaller colonies•Less damage

End of woodproduct pests