Integrated Pest Management
Pinyon Ips
Adult pinyon ips (Pest and Diseases Image Library, Bugwood.org)
Ips beetle larva (Erich G. Vallery, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org)
Pitch tubes and boring dust left by pinyon ips (William M. Ciesla, Forest Health Management International, Bugwood.org)
Pest Description
- adults: ~ 1/6 inch; reddish brown to black
- rear end of beetle is concave and surrounded by prominent spines
- larvae: white grubs with a brown head capsule; no legs
Host Plants, Diet & Damage
- two-leaf pinyon; single-leaf pinyon; other pinyons
- feed on tree phloem
- produce pitch tubes; sawdust-like frass
- kill trees systematically from the top down
- can introduce fungal pathogens
Biology, Life Cycle & Damaging Life Stage
- overwinter as adults under bark
- two and a half to three generations per year
- emerge in early spring with warming temperatures (warmer than 50 degrees F)
- males mate with multiple females creating diagnostic gallery pattern
larvae are the damaging life stage
IPM Recommendations
- Reduce stress and keep trees healthy and damage free.
- Irrigate pinyons during extended drought periods.
- Remove affected material and remove from site, or debark.
- Monitor nearby pine trees for signs of Ips attacks.
- If known populations are nearby, an insecticide (carbamate; pyrethroid) applied to the bark prior to beetle flight can protect trees.
For more information, see our Bark Beetles fact sheet.