Forest Care - Pine Beetle

MOUNTAIN PINE BEETLES
Mountain Pine Beetles develop in pines, particularly ponderosa, lodgepole, Scotch and limber pine. Bristlecone and pinon pine are less commonly attacked. Trees that are not growing vigorously due to old age, crowding, poor growing conditions, drought, fire or mechanical damage, root disease and other causes are most likely to be attacked.

Quick Facts...

Mountain pine beetles (MPB) are the most important insect pest of Colorado's pine forests. MPB often kill large numbers of trees annually during outbreaks.
Trees that are not growing vigorously due to old age, crowding, poor growing conditions, drought, fire or mechanical damage, root disease and other causes are most likely to be attacked.
For a long-term remedy, thin susceptible stands. Leave well-spaced, healthy trees.

For short-term controls, spray, cover, burn or peel attacked trees to kill the beetles. Preventive sprays can protect green, un-attacked trees.

More common to Castle Pines Village is the Ips Beetle.

IPS BEETLES
Ips beetles, sometimes known as “engraver beetles,” are bark beetles that damage pine and spruce trees. They develop under the bark and produce girdling tunnels that can cause dieback and kill trees. Eleven species of ips beetles occur in Colorado.

Quick Facts...

Ips is a common group of bark beetles that infests pine and spruce trees.
Ips beetles rarely attack healthy trees. Most problems with ips occur to newly transplanted pines or when plants are under stress.
Several generations of ips can occur in a season.
There are 11 species of ips beetles found in Colorado.

Prevention and Control
Certain formulations of carbaryl (Sevin and others) and permethrin (Astro, Dragnet and others) are registered for use to prevent attacks on individual trees. These sprays are applied to living green trees in early summer to kill or deter attacking beetles. This preventive spray is quite effective through one MPB flight (one year).
Another method of prevention involves forest management. In general, the MPB likes forests that are old and dense. Thinning out excess trees reduces forest density, lessens fire hazard and improves individual tree vigor. Most mature Colorado forests have about twice as many trees as forests more resistant to MPB. Get help from a forester with this option.
Natural controls of mountain pine beetle include woodpeckers and insects such as clerid beetles that feed on adults and larvae under the bark. Extreme cold temperatures also can reduce MPB populations. However, during outbreaks these natural controls often fail to prevent additional attacks.
If you suspect your trees are diseased, it is recommended you contact a specialist or someone from the Forestry Committee to advise you on how to proceed with treatment. It is every homeowner’s responsibility to maintain healthy trees on their property. If a tree on your property is dead it is the homeowner’s responsibility to remove the dead tree as soon as possible.

Signs and Symptoms of MPB Attack...

Popcorn-shaped masses of resin, called “pitch tubes” on the trunk where beetle tunneling begins. Pitch tubes may be brown, pink or white.
Boring dust in bark crevices and on the ground immediately adjacent to the tree base.
Evidence of woodpecker feeding on the trunk. Patches of bark are removed and bark flakes lie on the ground or snow below the tree.
Foliage turning yellowish to reddish throughout the entire tree crown. This usually occurs 8-10 months after a successful MPB attack.
Presence of live MPB (eggs, larvae, pupae and/or adults) as well as galleries under bark. This is the most certain indicator of infestation. A hatchet for removal of bark is needed to check trees correctly.
Blue stained sapwood. Check at more than one point around the tree’s circumference.

Infested Trees
Once MPB infest a tree, nothing practical can be done to save that tree. Under epidemic or outbreak conditions, enough beetles can emerge from an infested tree to kill about two same-sized trees the following year. Trees from which MPB have already emerged (look for numerous round, pitch-free exit holes in bark) do not need to be treated.
Ips and related beetles that emerge early in summer often are mistaken for mountain pine beetle, leading to early reports that "MPB is flying." Be sure to properly identify the beetles you find associated with your trees.
The direction and spread rate of a beetle infestation is impossible to predict. However, attacked trees usually are adjacent to or near previously killed trees.

For more information, click on Ips Beetles – CSU Extension Service
For more information, click on Mountain Pine Beetle – CSU Extension Service

There are many dead and dying trees throughout the Village. Just a reminder that if you have vegetation that dies that was part of your landscape plan you are required to replace it.

Contact the CPHA Landscape Technicians to schedule an inspection, make a request or ask a question. You can reach Dave Cooper or Bill Holwell at 303.814.1345 or by email.

Landscape Technicians
Dave Cooper email

Bill Holwell email