Species Dendroctonus frontalis - Southern Pine Beetle

Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann 1868

Adults are 2.2-4.2mm long(1)

Larva are 5mm long(1)

Chocolate brown to black. Has a prominent tubercle on each side of the vertical median groove on the front of the head. The pronotum is slightly narrowed at front, broadest at the middle and about as long as wide. The elytra are wide and over twice as long as the pronotum.(1)

Throughout the southeastern and southern states(1)

Various, depending on the life stage they overwintered in and the region(1)

All species of yellow pine with shortleaf, loblolly, Virginia, and pitch favored.(1)

Overwinter in the bark in all life stages -- eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults(1)

Females bore directly into the cambium to construct a nuptial chamber. After mating the female constructs a gallery diagonally across the grain of the wood, etching the surface faintly. The direction of the gallery eventually is reversed, creating an S-shaped or serpentine pattern. Eggs are deposited at intervals of 1/8 to 1" in niches in each side of the gallery, one egg per niche. Hatching occurs in 3-9 days and the larvae tunnel at right angles to the gallery. Young larvae create thread-like mines in the inner bark. Older larvae bore deeper as at it reaches maturity created a cell in the middle for pupation. Adults emerge in 10-32 days.(1)

3-5 generations per year(1)