Common Pine Shoot Beetle – Tomicus Piniperda

Common Pine Shoot Beetle (Tomicus piniperda)

Latin Name: Tomicus Piniperda

Common Name: Common Pine Shoot Beetle

Appearance:

The weevil family includes the common pine shoot beetle (Curculionidae).

• Adult beetles are cylindrical, dark brown or black, and lustrous. As they go through their development eating period, newly emerging adults are easier to find in the summer.
• The adults are brown to lustrous black and 14 inches long, with a cylindrical body the new adults will eat current-year shoots until the fall, looking for overwintering locations.
• Larvae are legless with white grubs and brown heads that grow up to 15 inches (5 mm) long. Inside the passageways beneath the bark of hazardous trees or stumps, eggs and larvae can be found.

Host plants: Pines, especially Austrian and Scotch, Occasionally on eastern white pine

Territory:

North America, Canada, and the United States are some countries where the beetle is found. Tomicus piniperda is a species that may be found throughout Europe and Asia.

Damage caused by Common Pine Shoot Beetle:

Tomicus piniperda most serious affliction is the destruction of shoots during maturation feeding. Tree height and diameter growth are inhibited when branch feeding is excessive. It can reduce pine tree growth, volume, and productivity. Typically, the larvae destroy the wood, rendering it unusable for manufacture. Adults inflict the most damage to trees and restrict their growth, but severe infestations can kill them.

Description about Gall makers:

Gall makers appear quiet, like old buccaneers with no eye patches or shoulder parrots. They quickly and successfully seize their incentives, putting them to work doing their bidding with eye-catching results. Wasps, flies, and a few aphids and mites are gall-producing insects. The gall maker chemically hijacks a leaf bud or other location on a tree to develop a casing of plant tissue that shields and nurtures the gall maker’s growing progeny instead of conveying its booty to a secluded cove. Oak trees attract more than half of these intriguing creatures. Galls can form on leaves, bark, flowers, buds, or roots. The majority of growths, except for some twig and stem galls, have little effect on healthy trees.

 

Life history and Habits:

Adult Tomicus piniperda spend the winter in the pine tree’s shoots or bark. When the temperature reaches or above 53.6°F (12°C), the beetles leave the overwintering spot and begin flying around. Adults lay eggs in a brood gallery up to 9.8 in. (25 cm) long and parallel to the wood grain on stumps, logs, and dying Scots and kindred pines. The larvae feed beneath the bark from the brood gallery and create little side tunnels. In most cases, the immature period lasts from April to June. The larvae pupate under the bark during the summer, and the adults emerge. Adults can travel hundreds of kilometers searching for new hosts, and one generation occurs each year.