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Thread: Beetles, dammit

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Default Beetles, dammit

    I've lost several mature loblolly pines in the past year, with another yellowing, and two more showing a dying limb or two. There are round pinholes in the bark of the dead trees. I assume these are pine beetles. This is a non-commercial tree area (around the house and beside an agricultural field). Do I need to remove these trees? Will this play out?

    Thoughts appreciated.

  2. #2
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    Aug 2004
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    Camden SC
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    Do you have any spots on the tree bark where the pine sap looks like popcorn? If you do, the Beetles are there.

  3. #3
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    Hope you don’t have them they’re bad news.

  4. #4
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    I shall inspect for popcorn in the am.

  5. #5
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    The pine sap drains out of the beetle holes and accumulates into little balls of sap that look just like popcorn. It is the tree’s first line of defense.

  6. #6
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    They move in one direction if it’s a colony. If they are moving in a direction that has no trees they probably will play out.

  7. #7
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    Well, no popcorn. It just looks like someone drilling into the trunk with 1/4 and 3/8 inch bits. No sap or anything coming from the holes. Only a few holes on the ones that may be dying, much more pronounced on the dead ones, so I suspect that the holes may be post-mortem. But I really have no idea. What else could it be? I guess I need a forester to look.

  8. #8
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    Probably ambrosia, and or ips Beetls. Look at the sc forestry commission web site, they have a list of the could be culprits. I’m a forester if that makes you feel better. The bad thing is there is not much you can do at this point.
    Last edited by santee11; 11-06-2021 at 07:31 PM.

  9. #9
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    Oct 2001
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    Hampton Co., SC
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    3/8" holes are not pine bark beetles.....sounds like peckerwoods to me
    \"I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. A small bird will drop dead frozen from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.\" <br />D.H. LAWRENCE

  10. #10
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    I don't think so. The holes are neat and perfectly round. No damage to the bark around the margins of the hole.

  11. #11
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    Feb 2013
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    Did the trees turn brown from the top down or from the ground up.

  12. #12
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    Is there fine saw dust accumulating at base of tree?

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  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
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    Lexington County
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    http://www.trees.sc.gov/idbeetles.pdf


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