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Meet the Beetles
Thu Jan 08, 2004
Listen in RealAudio 
They're hungry, they're deadly, and if you live in the western U.S., they could be headed for
a forest near you. Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook.
We're talking about beetles -- and we don't mean the Fab Four. These are the voracious
mountain pine beetles, and they're anything but fabulous. These critters are less than half
an inch long, but working as a team, they can wipe out a hundred-year-old pine tree in just a
few months. Right now the beetles are rampaging across the West, and the weather is on their
side.
As their name suggests, the beetles feed on pine trees. Females burrow into the bark and lay
a few dozen eggs, then larvae feed on the tree's juicy insides. Once they mature the next
spring, the beetles tunnel their way out and fly off to attack other trees. Since 1997,
they've been out of control, and in the past two years have destroyed over a million trees in
Colorado alone. In British Columbia, the outbreak is the worst on record. Mountain pine
beetles get under control only when the beetles run out of trees or a cold snap arrives. A
cold wave with readings of minus 40 is enough to kill off the beetles. But it hasn't gotten
that cold in British Columbia for a while. The ongoing drought out West is only making things
worse because it stresses out the trees and makes them even more vulnerable. A team of
experts met in Canada this fall to discuss ways to help keep the next beetle epidemic in
check. As for this one, all they can do is hope for a cold wave.
The Weather Notebook receives support from the National Science Foundation and Subaru of
America. Our cross-country tour is sponsored by Davis Instruments, at www.davisnet.com.
Today's Links
Would you like to know more:
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05528.html
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