The mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae, is an aggressive bark beetle that is both economically and ecologically significant in the long-term sustainability, function, and productivity of western pine ecosystems. One factor that may affect the population dynamics and outbreak behavior this bark beetle is its association with fungi. D. ponderosae is associated with two mycangial fungi, Ophiostoma clavigerum and O. montium. These fungi differentially affect the development and reproduction of the host beetle, and therefore, may influence host beetle population dynamics. We investigated whether the proportion of these two fungi vary by population, population phase, and over the emergence period of adult beetles. We found that some populations carry only O. montium, only O. clavigerum, or varying proportions of both fungi. Further, the proportion of the two fungi may change over the adult emergence period. The implications of these results will be discussed.
Species 1: Coleoptera Scolytidae Dendroctonus ponderosae (mountain pine beetle)
Keywords: Bark beetle, fungi
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