Mountain pine beetle epidemic visible in Colorado mountains
Reddish trees show the spread of the pine beetle epidemic in the Colorado high country.
July 13, 2007
A mountain pine beetle epidemic infested 660,000 acres of Colorado's lodgepole pine trees in 2006, noticeably altering the look and health of Colorado forests.
On July 11, Gov. Bill Ritter joined Colorado State Forester Jeff Jahnke and other land-management executives on a flyover of beetle-infested forests. During a post-flight briefing they annnounced the availability of $1 million in matching grant funds to develop forest restoration proposals that protect critical water supplies and address related forest health challenges such as wildfire risk reduction, community protection, ecological restoration and woody biomass utilization.
Learn more about mountain pine beetle outbreaks
The Colorado State Forest Service, a unit within the Colorado State University Warner College of Natural Resources, provides current, scientifically-based yet readable information about Colorado's forest health and wildfire issues, including forest insect and disease epidemics.
Visit the Colorado State Forest Service online at http://csfs.colostate.edu.
Quick Facts
-- The mountain pine beetle completes one cycle of development from egg to adult per year.
-- The most common homes the beetles seek are large, old lodgepole pines.
-- Every August, mountain pine beetles leave dead trees to seek new homes in living green pines to start the next generation.
-- Once the female beetle has found a suitable tree as a new home, she releases pheromones that attract both males and other females to the same tree. The beetles enter the tree by boring into the bark, creating pitch tubes.
-- Boring dust will appear in bark crevices and on the ground.
-- Mating will occur under the bark, and each breeding pair produces about 75 eggs. It takes seven to ten days for these eggs to hatch into larvae.
-- The beetles spend the winter under the bark.
-- The larvae continue to feed into spring and transform into pupae in June and July.
-- Adult beetles introduce bluestain fungi that disable the tree's defenses and interrupts the flow of water. The combination of fungi and feeding beetles rapidly kills the tree.
-- Ten to twelve months after a successful attack, infested tree foliage turns yellowish to reddish. Soon after, the beetles are ready to exit and search for a new home.
--------------------------------------
Additional Information
- "Colorado scientists develop consensus in providing key information on forest insect outbreaks and fire risk," http://www.newsinfo.colostate.edu/story.asp?id=396041953.
- View and print the CSFS and USDA Forest Service Mountain Pine Beetle Poster at http://csfs.colostate.edu/library/pdfs/csfs-poster-mpb.pdf.
- See the CSU Extension Mountain Pine Beetle Fact Sheet at http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05528.html.
- Visit the CSU-based Colorado Forest Restoration Institute online at http://www.cfri.colostate.edu.
Contact: Jayleen Heft
Email: Jayleen.Heft@colostate.edu
Phone Number: (970) 491-2655
