A few photos of evidence of Bark Beetles. The header image shows the galleries left by one set of larva as they ate through the bark. The same tree is shown below but in the header it has been cropped and rotated to suit.
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Galleries
Several times this year I have posted photos of trees that had been infested with Bark Beetles.
- January 2026 Visits to BRGPLNR
- Siskin at Denso Marston Nature Reserve. 1 March 2026
- Finishing March 2026. Gill Beck, DMNR, Ben Rhydding.
This posting shows some more evidence of Bark Beetles that I have found, and it is quite extreme. It shows the galleries will have completely circled the tree. As a result the tree cannot survive.
The darker lines show the path of the adult beetle as it laid its eggs. The other tracks were made by the hatched larvae. On some of the tracks it can be seen that they start off thin and get larger as the larva eats and grows as it moves away from the egg site.
The first couple of photos are probably showing the tracks of the Common Ash Bark Beetle. These tend to target trees that are already dead or weakened but once it has circled the main trunk its fate is sealed.
Not only will the trees die due to the encircling galleries but Bark Beetles often carry a symbiotic fungus that helps them digest the wood. With the Elm Bark Beetles, Scolytus scolytus & S. multistriatus, this can be the fungus, Ophiostoma novo-ulmi, that causes Dutch Elm Disease that will kill the tree.
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