Mountain Pine Beetle Essay

In this paper I will discuss the mountain pine beetle. The mountain pine beetle is the common name and Dendroctonus ponderosae is the scientific name of this specific beetle. The mountain pine beetle is a part of the Animalia kingdom. It is a part of the Cuculiondae family. The genus is Dendroctonus and the species is ponderosae. The mountain pine beetle spends most of its lifetime underneath the bark of an infested tree (Johnson 2007). They are parasites that play a role in carbon cycles through decaying of forest (Keeling 2013). A mountain pine beetle is very little in size. From the size at birth to its full grown size it ranges from 1/8th of an inch to 1/4th of an inch (Johnson 2007). The MPB’s life cycle takes up to about a year to complete (Katherine 2002). It starts their journey as a tiny pearl white egg typically sometime during the summer or early fall (Katherine 2002). On average, it will take the eggs ten to fourteen days to hatch. During cooler weather it could take longer to hatch (Katherine 2002). The first stage the MPB goes through is the larvae stage. Larvae are can be easily noticed because they are legless and look white with

They typically stay inside the phloem inside of pine tree species (Katherine 2002). The most attacked pine species is the Lodgepole pine (Jesse and James 2001). A few other major host of the MPB include ponderosa pine, sugar pine, and western white pines (Jesse and James 2001). MPB’s are typically looking for pines that have a thick phloem so there is adequate food to increase their population (Katherine 2002). Once all the larger pines are killed they infest smaller trees, which have a thinner phloem (Katherine 2002). The MPB can be found in North America, Nicaragua, Europe, and Asia (Keelings 2013). They can adapt to a wide range of temperatures, which means they can be found in a range of