The black turpentine beetle, D. terebrans (Olivier), occurs from coastal Mas- 
sachusetts, New York, and New Hampshire to Florida, Missouri, and Texas. The 
northern part of its range is coincident with stands of pitch pine near the Atlantic 
Coast. All species of southern pines and red spruce are attacked, but loblolly and 
slash pines apparently are the most frequently injured. The adult (fig. 161) is dark 
reddish-brown to black, and from 5 to 10 mm long. The head is densely granulate, 
roughly punctate, and convex in front. The pronotum and elytra are coarsely and 
shallowly punctate. Full-grown larvae are creamy white, legless, about 12 mm 
long, and have glossy reddish-brown heads. 
Winter is spent in the adult stage in the northern parts of the insect’s range. In the 
Deep South all life stages are present throughout the year. Eggs are principally laid 
in the basal 90 cm of the trunk and large roots of weakened and dying trees and 
stumps of recently cut trees. Green logs may also be attacked occasionally. The 
female bores a hole through the bark to the cambium. Here she is joined by a male 
and, working together, they excavate an egg gallery up to 25 cm wide and 50 cm 
long on the face of the sapwood, usually in a downward direction. Eggs are 
deposited in a long group on one side of the gallery. The larvae feed away from the 
gallery in the phloem. They feed together in groups and excavate large cavelike 
galleries, usually somewhat fan-shaped, and occasionally up to 30 cm across. 
When fully grown they construct pupal cells either in the corky bark or between the 
bark and wood. The adults emerge through holes chewed through the bark and fly 
to trees or stumps to start a new generation. Several may emerge through a single 
hole. There are two to three generations per year in the Deep South. 
Beetles are attracted by terpenes released by stumps and injured trees. Trees 
weakened by fire, logging, adverse climatic conditions, or naval stores operations 
are also highly prone to attack. Occasionally uninjured, apparently healthy trees are 
infested. Attacks are usually confined to a height of less than 2 m on the trunks of 
standing trees. Sometimes, though, they occur to a height of 3.5 m. Attacked trees 
have large reddish to whitish pitch tubes on the bark surface (fig. 162) and whitish 
pitch and bark pellets in the bark crevices or at the base of the tree. Infested trees are 
almost always secondarily attacked by ambrosia beetles, which produce piles of 
fine white sawdust around the base of the tree. 
F-532017 
Figure 161.—Adult of the black turpentine beetle, 
Dendroctonus terebrans. 
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