Forest-health

Guides

• Hylastes

  Hylastes is a genus of crenulate bark beetles in the family Curculionidae, comprising over 90 species. Members are primarily associated with coniferous hosts, particularly pines and spruces, where they breed in stumps, roots, and stressed or dying trees. Several species are economically significant as vectors of fungal pathogens causing tree mortality. The genus has a fossil record extending to the Eocene, with Hylastes perkovskyi described from Rovno amber.

  bark-beetleconifer-pestroot-feedingpathogen-vectorforest-healthLeptographiumDouglas-firpinespruceaggregation-behaviorhost-volatilesintroduced-species

• Matsucoccus acalyptus

  Pinyon Needle Scale, pinyon pine scale

  Matsucoccus acalyptus is a univoltine scale insect specialized on pinyon pine (Pinus edulis). Males are winged and appear in early spring, while females are sessile and legless, remaining under bark scales. The species has a complex life cycle involving seasonal migrations between needles and bark, with heavy infestations capable of weakening host trees and predisposing them to beetle attack.

  scale-insectpine-pestunivoltinesexual-dimorphismnative-speciesforest-health