Bark Beetles

Family Curculionidae

Appearance

•  Adults - 6 mm long. Mostly all black and have rust coloured wing covers.
•  Larvae - 6-7 mm long. Creamy white, cylindrical, head is pale tan / rusty colour.

Lifecycle

•  Males join the females and each pair construct an egg gallery under the bark, parallel to the grain.
•  The sapwood is inoculated with spores of a blue stain fungus as the egg gallery is built.
•  Larvae hatch, pupate and develop into adults under the bark.

Habits

•  They are common pests of conifers and some attack broadleaf trees.
•  Several hundred species are known.