Hylurgopinus rufipes

Inner bark, cambium, and phloem of American elm (Ulmus americana); overwintering occurs in bark crevices and leaf litter at the base of elm trunks, with densities highest within 25 cm of ground level and declining sharply above 55 cm.

North America: Canada (Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario) and United States; core range associated with American elm distribution in the northern Great Plains, prairie provinces, and northeastern regions.

Overwintered adults emerge in spring and attack broodwood (moribund or recently cut elm) primarily during evening flights. New adults emerge from pupation in late summer, feed on phloem, then seek overwintering sites. One generation per year.

Larvae feed on cambium tissue within egg galleries in American elm inner bark. Adults feed on phloem tissue before overwintering.

• Ulmus americana - Primary host for reproduction, larval development, and adult feeding; weakened or dying trees are preferentially attacked.American elm is the principal host supporting complete life cycle; other Ulmus species may be utilized but specific associations are not documented in available sources.

One generation annually. Overwintered adults emerge spring, females initiate galleries in inner bark of host trees and deposit eggs. Larvae feed in cambium, creating galleries, then pupate in outer bark. New adults emerge late summer, feed on phloem, then overwinter in bark crevices or leaf litter.

Males exhibit three distinct stridulatory patterns: simple multipulse calls, stress/rivalry chirps, and bimodal premating stridulation at gallery sites. Males become motionless when approaching attractive female galleries. Brief male-male contests occur following arrival of the first (resident) male at a female gallery. Females do not stridulate. Overwintered adults are attracted to broodwood in spring, while summer-emergent adults are attracted to healthy elm. Attacks on broodwood occur primarily during evening flights.

Primary cambium-feeding pest of American elm; contributes directly to tree decline and mortality through gallery construction and larval feeding. Principal vector of Dutch elm disease (Ophiostoma ulmi complex) in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and North Dakota, playing a critical role in pathogen transmission and regional elm population collapse.

Major economic and ecological pest as vector of Dutch elm disease, responsible for widespread mortality of American elm across North American urban and natural landscapes. Management includes residual insecticide application to lower tree trunks where adults overwinter.

• Scolytinae
• bark beetle
• Dutch elm disease
• vector
• stridulation
• acoustic communication
• forest pest
• Ulmus
• cambium feeder
• monophagous
• one generation per year
• overwintering
• North America
• prairie provinces
• Great Plains

• BugGuide
• GBIF taxonomy match
• iNaturalist taxon
• NCBI Taxonomy
• Catalogue of Life
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• Hylurgopinus rufipes . [Distribution map].
• Field Notes on the Life History of Hylurgopinus rufipes (Eich.)
• STRIDULATION AND ASSOCIATED BEHAVIOR OF THE NATIVE ELM BARK BEETLEHYLURGOPINUS RUFIPES(EICHHOFF) (COLEOPTERA: SCOLYTIDAE)
• HYLURGOPINUS RUFIPES (EICHHOFF) (COLEOPTERA: SCOLYTIDAE): ATTRACTION TO BROODWOOD, HOST COLONIZATION BEHAVIOR, AND SEASONAL ACTIVITY IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA
• Distribution and survival of overwintering adults of the Dutch elm disease vector, Hylurgopinus rufipes (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), in American elm trees in Manitoba