Native Elm Bark Beetle(Hylurgopinus rufipes)Latin Name: Hylurgopinus rufipes
Common Name: Native Elm Bark Beetle
Appearance:
The native elm bark beetle, Hylurgopinus rufipes, is a tiny brown to dark brown bug about 1/8 inch long.
The wings and body are rough, with short, stiff yellow hairs.
They spend the winter as grubs in the outer bark of living elms and as adults in the inner bark of dead elms. They reproduce and build egg galleries in dead and dying elm trees and elm firewood.
Males and females both dig entry tunnels through the bark.
Host plants:
This bark beetle mostly targets rock (Ulmus thomasii Sarg.) and American elm (Ulmus americana L.), but it also attacks American basswood (Tilia americana L.) and ash species (Fraxinus).
Territory:
This native bark beetle was once widespread over eastern North America, from northern Alabama and Mississippi to southern Canada, but it has been mostly supplanted by the introduced smaller European elm bark beetle. However, it is still prevalent in colder regions such as northern New York, New England, northern Minnesota, and southern Canada.
Damage caused by Native Elm Bark Beetle:
The first symptom of an elm bark beetle assault is red sawdust on the bark, which appears in the autumn or early spring. The adult excavates a gallery on either side of the entry hole, leaving a V-shaped imprint. After eating, adults return to weaker or wounded trees to deposit their eggs on the trunk. This insect transmits Dutch elm disease. To the next healthy tree they feed on, Adults return to weaker or wounded trees after eating to deposit their eggs on the trunk.
Life history and Habits:
Adult beetles emerge in early spring and fly to healthy elms for a brief period to eat. Females build egg galleries that run horizontally across the grain of the wood. Larvae eat in tunnels parallel to the grain, and eggs are placed along with the egg gallery. In certain cases, larvae and freshly grown adults will spend the winter in these galleries, emerging as adults the following spring. This bark beetle has one to two generations every year, depending on location.
