Beetles bore into state's trees, threatening ecology, economy

RALEIGH Tiny Asian beetles that tunnel into dead wood are invading the U.S. But in North Carolina, they're boring holes into living trees as well as dead ones.

Beetles like these may have the potential to devastate trees worldwide, N.C. State researchers said in a report released last week.

Two destructive species of ambrosia beetles from Asia have already arrived in North Carolina. The redbay ambrosia beetle was found in the state for the first time in Bladen County just this April, while granulate ambrosia beetles have been around for decades.

In North Carolina, redbay ambrosia beetles kill ecologically important trees such as sassafras, redbay and the endangered pondberry.

But the beetles are a threat to the economy as well as to ecology.

Redbay ambrosia beetles have ravaged avocado orchards in Florida, while granulate ambrosia beetles attack peach, plum and pecan trees, along with dogwoods, Japanese maples and crepe myrtles.

"It's one of the most important pests of nurseries," said Dr. Steve Frank, an entomologist at N.C. State University who was not affiliated with the report.

Redbay and granulate ambrosia beetles are two of dozens of foreign ambrosia beetle species living in North Carolina. But the others are all harmless, as are hundreds more native ambrosia beetle species who make their homes in dead or dying trees.

Why do only some ambrosia beetles attack living trees? That's a question researchers are still trying to answer, said Dr. Jiri Hulcr, an N.C. State researcher and lead author of the report, which came out Wednesday.

Ambrosia beetles are very different from better known pine beetles. Pine beetles kill a tree by destroying vital parts of the trunk as they eat, but ambrosia beetles don't actually eat wood at all.

Instead, they bore into trees and plant fungus in the tunnels. The fungus extracts nutrients from the tree, and then the beetles feed on the fungus. In effect, ambrosia beetles are farmers.

There are more than 3,500 ambrosia beetle species living all over the world. In their native forests, they plant their fungus only in dead or dying trees. The beetles are attracted to certain chemicals in the smell of dying and rotting wood, such as ethanol, the same chemical found in alcoholic drinks.

"If you open up a beer in the forest, the beetles are actually attracted to you," Hulcr said. "It's a very easy way to catch ambrosia beetles.

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