The spruce beetle, Dendroctonus rufipennis, is a bark beetle that can cause extensive mortality of spruce in the Rocky Mountains. Pheromone traps are often used to monitor insect populations but the relationship between insects caught and tree mortality has not been quantified. We placed clusters of five pheromone traps in a number of spruce stands where the spruce beetle was active and collected the insects throughout the season. The stands were surveyed in the fall after beetle flight was complete. Basal area killed was related to basal area killed but the relationship may vary with forest conditions and the status of insect population among other factors.
Species 1: coleoptera scolytidae Dendroctonus rufipennis (spruce beetle)
Keywords: pheromone traps, tree mortality
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