Mountain Pine Beetle
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| Mountain pine beetle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Missing image Dendroctonus_ponderosae.jpg Adult mountain pine beetle Dendroctonus ponderosae | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, 1905 |
The mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae, is a species of bark beetle native to the forests of western North America.
Missing image
Dead_pines.jpg
Dead_pines.jpg
Mountain pine beetles killed these pine trees in Prince George, British Columbia.
Mountain pine beetles inhabit pines, particularly the Ponderosa Pine, Lodgepole Pine, Scots Pine and Limber Pine. The bristlecone pines and pinyon pines are less commonly attacked. During early stages of an outbreak, attacks are limited largely to trees under stress from injury, poor site conditions, fire damage, overcrowding, root disease or old age. However, as beetle populations increase, the beetles attack most large trees in the outbreak area.