What are natural enemies of bark beetles?
Just like the pine trees have bark beetles and other organisms to keep their populations in check, bark beetles have an array of natural enemies. Woodpeckers and other birds may eat some bark beetles. Some insects are known to control bark beetle populations under endemic (non-outbreak) population conditions. Predaceous beetles such as the blackbellied clerid (Enoclerus lecontei) and a trogositid beetle (Temnochila chlorodia), a predaceous fly (Medetera aldrichii), and parasitic wasps are natural enemies of the western pine beetle but rarely control it. These insects are known to have some effect on bark beetle populations, but most experts feel that parasites and predators of bark beetles are a minor factor in controlling bark beetles under the current pandemic outbreak. Northern Arizona University is initiating a study to try to understand the relationship between predators (primarily birds) and bark beetles.
Just like the pine trees have bark beetles and other organisms to keep their populations in check, bark beetles have an array of natural enemies. Woodpeckers and other birds may eat some bark beetles. Some insects are known to control bark beetle populations under endemic (non-outbreak) population conditions. Predaceous beetles such as the blackbellied clerid (Enoclerus lecontei) and a trogositid beetle (Temnochila chlorodia), a predaceous fly (Medetera aldrichii), and parasitic wasps are natural enemies of the western pine beetle but rarely control it. These insects are known to have some effect on bark beetle populations, but most experts feel that parasites and predators of bark beetles are a minor factor in controlling bark beetles under the current pandemic outbreak. Northern Arizona University is initiating a study to try to understand the relationship between predators (primarily birds) and bark beetles.
