The Mountain Pine Beetle is a small, black bark beetle responsible for one of the largest forest insect outbreaks in North American history, killing millions of acres of pine forests in the western US and Canada since the 1990s. Warming winters have removed the cold temperatures that previously kept populations in check. Blue staining of infested wood comes from fungi vectored by the beetle.
Habitat
Pine forests of western North America
Diet
Larvae: phloem of pine trees. Adults: pine phloem during reproduction
How common
Common
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