2 TREE BAITING TACTICS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF BARK BEETLES WITH SEMIOCHEMICALS

Baiting of trees with semiochemicals to contain and concentrate populations of the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae, has been an effective tactic used in IPM programs in British Columbia for many years, suggesting that it could be used against other aggressive species, such as Ips typographus. A modification of the tree baiting tactic for aggressive beetles is to combine semiochemical baits with arsenical herbicides in single tree treatments, as is done for Scolytus multistriatus. An alternative tactic is to bait with semiochemicals of secondary bark beetles, e.g. many Ips spp., to cause competitive displacement of beetles of an aggressive species already in a tree. Both tactics are environmentally nondisruptive, demand expert knowledge but only semi-skilled labour, are cheap, and have unexploited potential for use in IPM programs.