Why do mountain pine beetle use aggregative pheromones?
Aggregative pheromones help beetles coordinate an attack of many individuals on a host tree at one time. If only one female beetle were to attack a healthy tree, it is likely she would succumb to the tree’s defences and be caught in the sap or “pitch”. However, if many beetles attack the tree at once carrying the blue stain fungi with them, they have a better chance of clogging the tree’s defences and reproducing successfully.
