Ips Beetles - Identifying Characteristics
Identifying the injury:
Needles of infected trees will turn from green to yellow to red to brown. Small, reddish-orange colored masses of resin, called pitch tubes, may be found on tree stems and branches. Pitch tubes are not always present, especially on trees that are severely stressed. The beetles leave small, 1/16" to 1/8", round holes in the outer bark. Reddish-orange to brown boring dust can be found in bark cervices and in the area underneath the tree. If the outer bark is removed, you can see the narrow Y or H shaped galleries.
Identifying the insect:
Adult beetles are small, ranging in size from 1/8" to 1/5" long and are dark brown to black in color. Ips beetles can be distinguished from other bark beetles by several, small, spine-like projections found along tback section of the insect. This back section is concave, not rounded like the back parts of other bark beetles.
Susceptible trees:
The Ips beetles can attack any southern pine. The beetles prefer trees weakened by drought, lightning, flooding, and other types of stress such as root diseases.