Ips pine bark beetle Order Coleoptera: Family Scolytidae
Importance: Ips beetles are commonly found throughout the South.
They usually attack injured or stressed trees, freshly felled
trees or logging slash. Infestations are frequently initiated in
trees stressed by lightning, logging injury or fire damage. Ips
beetles usually attack and kill only one-to-a-few trees in a
location. However, in areas in which trees have undergone severe
drought stress, ice or wind/hail damage, they frequently buildup
large populations and may kill large numbers of trees. Ips
beetles are second only to the southern pine beetle in the
number of trees killed by southern forest insects. Hosts: Ips
beetles attack the major pine species grown in Evidence:
Depending upon which of the four Ips species are involved, an
infestation is initiated by adults attacking the tree trunk, the
trunk and scaffold limbs or only scaffold limbs. Often, the
first recognized sign of attack is yellowing or reddening of
needles in tree crowns. Unfortunate