Thread: Southern Pine Beetles

We have had an influx of southern Pine Beetles here in Florida lately. This story appeared in the news last night. I copied this from WESH Channel 2's site this morning.

Thursday May 24 07:22 AM EDT

Beetle-Infested Trees To Be Removed
State environmental officials will cut down pine trees infested with southern pine beetles starting Thursday, in an area north of Orlando to prevent spread of the destructive bugs.

Trees in Wekiwa Springs State Park, Rock Springs Run State Reserve and Lower Wekiva River Preserve State Park near Apopka will be cut. Southern pine beetles have infested the area recently, and some other parts of Florida and the South.

The pests have destroyed about half the pines in the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina and have also infested pine stands in Alabama. In Florida, officials in Alachua County declared a state of emergency last month, saying nearly 100 areas were infested with the beetles.

The insects are found in neighborhoods with large numbers of loblolly pines. They chew into the trees to lay their eggs. As those eggs hatch, the larvae chew their way along in the trunk, killing the tree.

We have had a problem with pine bettles in the Rocky Mountains also. Some of the problem is that people take to take there merry time to destroy the trees infected. This would help limit the amount of bettles.

Is burning the preferred method of control, as it is here with the bark when dealing with the mountain pine beetle? We can saw the timber prior to the flight of the adults, but the bark must be burned prior to the emergence of the adults.

We arent allowed to burn anything in Colorado so they ask us to cover the debris in plastic to suffocate the bettle. Whether thats the proper way to do it, I dont know. That is the way we do it.

I dont think I\'ld want to burn anything in FLA at this time either

Yeah, burning is definitely out of the question here in Florida. We\'ve been told to dispose of all such debris in approved landfills.

I understand about not burning in the fire season, but how does the landfill "guarantee" that they will cover or whatever the bark so that the beetles are not merely transported by us to a new habitat - just wondering.

About all I can guarantee is that the dude working in the dump has no clue what a pine beetle is. But on the positive side, there are always lots of birds at the dump eating trash and bugs.

Funny how, no matter where you go, the dumps nowadays are multimillion dollar constructions, but they still have just a dude at the gate that weighs your truck and foils the best plans of about 18 other pest control agencies. Ours is the same here.

Here is the latest from the local paper on our problems with the southern pine beetle. Someone posted yesterday something about dying pines.

Beetle invasion spreads

By Robert Sargent Jr. | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted August 9, 2001



Rangers armed with chain saws have started to hack down 6,000 acres of forest across Florida, struggling to curb a devastating epidemic of ferocious pine beetles that are eating the trees.

Another 14,000 acres is expected to be added to the hit list before the year’s end, much of it in Central Florida, the hardest-hit part of the state. So far, Alachua County reports 1,700 acres of infestation; Marion, 957; Lake, 937; Orange, 462, Seminole, 530; and Volusia, 191. No beetles have been found in Osceola County.

In the Ocala National Forest, thousands of trees are being toppled and left scattered across portions of the 450,000 acres as timber managers fight a losing battle to keep ahead of the beetles, District Ranger Jim Thorsen said.

"A number of spots are growing rapidly," Thorsen said. "It is very difficult to handle."

The beetles debuted in tandem with a crippling drought that started nearly four years ago. Mostly, they stayed in remote areas, where they threatened timber but not people.

Now, they’re going to town.

One residential area in the Ocala forest has been threatened by falling trees, prompting Lake County code-enforcement officers to investigate whether homes in

Shockley Heights and Astor are threatened.

Trees fall near homes

"They [trees] are falling down in the roadways, and the residents have had to push them out of the way," said Lesta Ramsey, whose utility shed was smashed last year by a falling, bug-infested tree. Another collapsed onto her mobile home in Shockley Heights in June, damaging the side and flattening a chain-link fence.

Of the 6,000 acres of infestation reported on state and private lands, the U.S. Forest Service is monitoring and cutting 170 spots of infestation totaling more than 4,200 acres. Single sites range up to 300 acres. There is only one solution for the homeowner: Chop them down.

Then pay the bill.

"If they’re dead trees, I should be responsible for them, but it’s an overwhelming cost," said Ramsey, a cafeteria worker for the Lake County schools. "We moved way out here so we wouldn’t have to pay huge expenses -- this is very difficult on me." The beetles, she argued, spread to her trees from the national forest.

"If the bugs were taken care of properly in the forest before all this happened, maybe I wouldn’t have them here," Ramsey said.

By Friday, the Florida Division of Forestry hopes to open a beetle command center in Ocala to keep track of the insects and work with hundreds of private-property owners who are expected to cut the trees and haul them off their land -- or shell out the cash for someone else to do it. In Alachua, county officials have set up a fund to help residents who can’t afford the expense.

"Our biggest challenge is simply the large number of property owners and attempting to contact them," Marion County forester Greg Barton said.

Often, Barton said, landowners are difficult to reach. Some are simply unwilling to do anything, despite the enormous threat to Florida’s ecosystem.

Beetles eat variety of pines

The Southern pine beetle typically is attracted to loblolly pines. However, the beetles now are eating their way through a variety of pines, including long leaf, sand and slash pines. The onslaught is a result of Central Florida’s punishing drought, which has sapped moisture from trees, limiting their natural defense against the beetles.

When the beetle population reaches a large-enough size, it will devastate even healthy trees that normally would not be susceptible to attack. That’s why experts are predicting that the statewide infestation will rise to 20,000 acres by the end of the year. Already, Lake and west Orange counties, which were considered relatively safe from the bugs, have begun to report dead stands of trees.

Isolated attacks are commonplace throughout the South, but infestations of the bug are not.

Bugs move fast

Forestry officials first recorded an attack in Marion County in March 1997. They said then that it was the first time in 50 years that the Ocala National Forest was threatened by the bug. They also said Lake County was safe from attack. Three months later, the bugs had eaten their way across the border into Lake.

The beetles attack by colonizing a tree -- tunneling through the inner bark to lay eggs. In the process, they interrupt the flow of nutrients through the trunk, killing the tree. The bugs can spread quickly if left unchecked. If 5,000 beetles initially attack a tree, 25,000 new beetles may emerge a month later.

The insects can be killed by chemicals, but forest managers say that solution isn’t practical because of the number of trees, the cost of the chemicals and the effect on wildlife. If the trees are cut and left on the ground, Florida’s hot, humid days virtually cook the bugs inside. During rainy weather, however, that doesn’t work. The bugs flourish, so the downed trees have to be carted away. Lately, timber companies have had trouble doing that -- logging trucks routinely get stuck in the muddy forest roads.

So far, 26 counties have reported beetle damage at more than 1,800 spots. Outbreaks are biggest in Alachua, Baker, Columbia, Hamilton, Lake, Marion, Orange, Seminole, Suwannee and Volusia counties, according to division of forestry reports.

Robert Sargent can be reached at rsargent@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5909.
Copyright © 2001, Orlando Sentinel

If you go to the actual article, it has a picture of a pine beetle.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...me%2Dheadlines
Dunno how long this link will be active though.

Pine beetles blaze expensive trails

Robert Sargent Jr. | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted August 11, 2001

CHULUOTA -- William Beckendorf hated to see his beautiful pine tree turn sickly and brown next to his home.

It was obvious something was wrong, but Beckendorf had no idea the culprits were tiny, bark-eating beetles that have become epidemic across Florida.

Beckendorf's tree had to be cut down and hauled away. The price: $225, and he opted not to pay an extra $40 for the stump to be ground down.

Now, hundreds of other private landowners across Central Florida may have to find the cash to fell their diseased trees, too.

Experts say the Southern pine beetles have eaten their way through 6,000 acres across Florida, and the fast-moving beetles could spread to more than 20,000 acres by the end of the year.

While most of the devastation is in big forestland, some is moving to semi-urban communities.

Little protection available

Homeowners can do little to protect themselves.

The only preventive measure is to keep pine trees healthy, experts say. Avoid overcrowding, and give them plenty of water. Drought and overcrowding stress the trees, making them easy targets for pine beetles.

Once the beetles strike, the experts have only one thing to say: Too late.

"Once they're in, there's no way to save the tree," said Altamonte Springs tree consultant Selmer Uhr.

Look for wads of resin

The easiest way to spot beetle damage is to look for what arborists call "pitch tubes," -- sticky, white- or pink-colored wads of resin on the sides of the trees. Also, residents can pull off a piece of bark and look for passageways cut underneath. Curved "S" shaped passages are pine beetles. Linear passageways shaped like a "Y" or "H" typically indicate Ips beetles, a cousin of the Southern pine beetle. That beetle is infesting Osceola and Brevard counties but is considered less destructive because populations are controlled by rain.

The beetles attack by colonizing a tree -- tunneling through the inner bark to lay eggs. In the process, they interrupt the flow of nutrients through the trunk, killing the tree. If 5,000 beetles attack a single tree, 25,000 new beetles may emerge a month later.

Pesticides aren't effective

Commercial pesticides such as Dursban, used to protect trees for years, are no longer available. And experts say newer pesticides available to consumers aren't effective in killing the bugs.

Most homes in urban areas aren't in danger. Uhr, for example, said he hasn't seen a tremendous increase in the beetles because they are attracted to patches of loblolly pines, found mostly in forests. Now, however, beetles are eating their way through long leaf, sand and slash pines, too.

Rain, heat best defenses

In the forest, the best defenses are widespread cutting or rain. Central Florida until this summer has been in the grip of a four-year drought, which weakened the trees' resistance to the beetles. As the trees slowly absorb moisture, their natural defense builds back up. But that could take weeks or months of steady rain to accomplish. Temperatures above 90 degrees can slow the spread of the beetles, too.

Still, Orange has 462 infested acres; Volusia, 191; Lake 937 and Marion 957. Nearly 30 acres of infested trees have turned up in the Spring Hammock Preserve in Seminole County. Altogether, Seminole has 20 areas where the beetles have devoured 530 acres.

The Ocala National Forest has as many as 170 spots of infestation totaling more than 4,200 acres. Foresters have been struggling for months to cut down the trees and slow the spread. Timber companies are hustling to help, and thousands of trees have been left cut down and lying on the forest floor. Florida's hot temperatures literally cook the bugs inside, experts said.

Landowners seek help

Calls from concerned residents flooded into the Florida Division of Forestry late in the week. Foresters also have been working with many private land owners to cut affected trees and to stop the growth. But that often can be difficult because the state officials can't order residents to chop their trees, and homeowners often can't afford the cost, which can top $300 a tree.

"Also, to the property owners, it doesn't matter if this is caused by Ips or Southern pine beetles -- they just know their trees are dying," said Tom Donahoe, a spokesman for the forestry office in Orlando.

Rural landowners who do decide to take down affected trees may have a tough time getting help because estate timber companies are bogged down with work after past years' fires and the beetle damage. Donahoe said the overwhelming availability of trees has has sent the price of timber plummeting.

Beckendorf, who lives near the Little Big Econ State Forest, where 150 acres have been infested, said he is more than willing to eat the expense.

"The government can't pay for everything," he said. "I bought the trees with my property, so I should pay to remove them."

Stephanie Erickson contributed to this report. Robert Sargent can be reached at 352-742-5909 or at rsargent@orlandosentinel.com
Copyright © 2001, Orlando Sentinel

I did a search for Junebug larva, but came up empty handed except for Rockies old thread.
I'm assuming this is a Junebug. I find them often in seems of tree trunks. Wether there is any symbiotic relationship I don't know, but they do chew into decayed matter within the tree. Not sure if they eat green wood though, but I doubt it.

John

Originally Posted by Gypo Logger

I did a search for Junebug larva, but came up empty handed except for Rockies old thread.
I'm assuming this is a Junebug. I find them often in seems of tree trunks. Wether there is any symbiotic relationship I don't know, but they do chew into decayed matter within the tree. Not sure if they eat green wood though, but I doubt it.

John

That larval body plan does appear typical of the Scarabaeidae family, which includes June beetles, but I can't say for sure that's what you've got there. The only feeding of live tree tissue they do that I'm aware of is on the underground roots. Some adult scarabs also feed on foliage.

Was confused at first... saw the first post and said, geez, there's major SPB activity and we haven't heard about it?? Then I realized you'd posted this on a 4-year old thread.