Black Turpentine Beetle: Identifying Characteristics
Identifying the injury:
Attacks usually occur only on the lower 3' to 8' of the tree trunk or on a tree stump. Look for ½" to 1" wide, reddish-brown to pinkish-white pitch tubes on the lower tree trunk in bark crevices. The beetles make small (1/8' to 1/4" inch wide) holes in the outer bark. The inner bark will have vertical, D-shaped, or fan-shaped galleries. The tree's needles turn from green to yellow to red to brown.
Identifying the insect:
The adult beetle is dark brown to black in color, 3/8" long, and the back portion of the body is rounded. Full grown larvae are white with a reddish brown head and 1/3" long.
Susceptible trees:
The black turpentine beetle can attack all southern pines. The beetle targets unhealthy or damaged trees, and newly cut pine stumps. Serious outbreaks are likely in forests being worked for turpentine, areas recently logged or thinned, and in stressed pines in urban areas.