Hylurgops beetle, Hylurgops rugipennis,
 

Fig. 84   Hylurgops adult and larva.	Fig. 85  Distribution of galleries on tree.	Fig. 86   Shape of gallery.
Fig. 87  Beetle galleries at the root collar.	Fig. 88   Larval feeding in bark.	Fig. 89  Lodgepole pine stand damage by the hylurgops beetle.

Tree Species Attacked: Pine, spruce, Douglas-fir, western hemlock, and true firs are susceptible. Trees from approximately 15 years old through maturity can be attacked.

Insect Description & Damage Symptoms: Adult beetles are reddish-brown and black underneath, growing to 4 to 5 mm in length. They attack stumps and dead, dying, or stressed trees, boring into the bark of the tree at or below the root collar. If the duff is pulled back around the collar of a recently attacked tree, bright orange boring dust is visible at the beetle entrance holes. The adults will occasionally bore into the bole of fallen trees. Attacks occur from spring to the end of summer. Egg galleries extend several centimetres above and below the beetle entrance hole. The larvae mine down from the egg gallery in a large group, so individual galleries are indistinct. As they work down the large lateral roots and the taproot, the larvae separate into smaller groups. The life cycle of the hylurgops beetle takes 1.5 to 2.5 years to complete, depending on when the beetles first attack.

Damage: The hylurgops beetle is considered a secondary beetle, and is not an aggressive killer of healthy trees. It can, however, attack and kill live trees that are stressed.

Similar Damage: Other bark beetles may be confused with the hylurgops beetle. Distinctive features of the hylurgops beetle include attacking only below the root collar, and the large, indistinct galleries formed by gregarious larval feeding. Warren's root collar weevil also attacks below the root collar, but it is distinguished by the presence of tube-like shelters made from pitch and soil that surround the root collar weevil.

Back to the Pest Field Guide Index

Contact Tim Ebata if you have comments on the presentation of this information.

BC Ministry of Forests
Forest Practices Branch
P.O. Box 9513 Stn. Prov. Gov.
Victoria, BC
V8W 9C2

Section phone: (250) 387-8739
Section fax: (250) 387-2136

Last updated February 19, 2002