Southern Pine Beetles Attack Felled Green Timber

Although Hopkins (1909) briefly mentioned that the southern pine beetle (SPB) (Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann) will breed in felled pines (Pinus spp.), this behavior has been thought to be uncommon (Gara and others 1965). MacAndrews (unpublished MS thesis 1926)’ first reported SPB completing a generation in felled logs of shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Miller) in an “epidemic”situation. In summer and fall he noticed that the logs were attacked simultaneously by SPB and Ips calligraphus (Germar) within 2 days after felling and that the bottoms of logs were colonized more heavily by SPB than the tops. Highest emergence:attack ratio (E/A) (10.4) was in the butt logs where bark was thickest. The average number of beetles was 21 .4/cm2 (198/ft2). In standing timber, the VA was lower (about 8.0), but numbers of emerging SPB were higher (32.41 cm2 or 300/ft2).