![]() ![]() Outside of Long Island SPB infested trees have only been found at Sunset Rock in Taconic State Park. It is expected that more infested trees will be found in the Hudson Valley. Three infested trees were found and removed in 2021 at Sunset Rock in Taconic State Park near the Massachusetts boarder. Even though individual beetles have been caught at these locations, there are currently no signs of an infestation. In 2021 a small number of SPB was caught in insect traps at the Saratoga Sand planes Wildlife Management Unit. SPB has also been found in traps at the Albany Pine Bush Preserve in Albany County. ![]() SPB has been found in traps at Bear Mountain State Park in Orange and Rockland Counties, Schunnemunk State Park in Orange County, Roosa Gap State Forest in Sullivan County, and Minnewaska State Park in Ulster County. SPB is widespread throughout Suffolk County and throughout Long Island. The beetles most likely colonized Long Island from the New Jersey Pinelands. Infested trees in New York were first found in October, 2014 in Suffolk County on Long Island. Confirmed SPB Locations in New York State This switch between high and low population numbers is influenced by the availability of dense pine stands, the number of natural enemies, the types of fungus present, tree defenses, and changes in climate. At other times, however, the population can explode, rapidly killing pine trees across the landscape, as is currently occurring on Long Island. The beetle can persist for years at very low numbers, sometimes going unnoticed. ![]() resulted in more than one billion dollars in loss for the timber industry, according to the U.S. From 1999-2002, an outbreak of the beetle in the southeastern U.S. SPB is one of the most destructive pest of southern pine forests. Most trees resist the initial attacks by secreting resin that can "pitch out" some adults and slow the entry of others, but infected trees almost always die as their defenses are overwhelmed by thousands of attacking beetles. This disrupts the flow of nutrients, killing the tree in typically 2-4 months. The adult beetle enters the tree through crevices in the bark and then creates S-shaped tunnels in the cambium tissue, just beneath the bark. In addition, SPB has been known to infest white pine, and other conifers when and infestation is very active and when the SPB population is extremely large. Galleries (tunnels) left by adult beetlesĪll hard pine trees are susceptible to an infestation of southern pine beetle, including pitch pine, red pine, and jack pine. ![]()
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