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The southern pine beetle (SPB), Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann, is the most destructive insect pest of pine in the southern United States. A recent historical review estimated that SPB caused $900 million of damage to pine forests from 1960 through 1990 (Price et a1. 1992). This aggressive tree killer is a native insect that lives predominantly in the inner bark of pine trees. Trees attacked by SPB often exhibit hundreds of resin masses (i.e., pitch tubes) on the outer tree bark. SPB feed on phloem tissue where they construct winding S-shaped or serpentine galleries. The galleries created by both the adult beetles and their offspring can effectively girdle a tree, causing its death. SPB also carry, and introduce into trees, blue-stain fungi. These fungi colonize xylem tissue and block water flow within the tree, also causing tree mortality (Thatcher and Conner 1985). Consequently, once SPB have successfully colonized a tree, the tree cannot survive, regardless of control measures. his document is EENY-176 (originally published as DPI Entomology Circular 369), one of the Featured Creatures series of the Entomology and Nematology Department, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Published: November 2000. Revised: March 2004. EENY-176/IN333: Southern Pine Beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) (ufl.edu)

Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), the tarnished plant bug, attacks a wide variety of economically important herbaceous plants, vegetable crops, commercial flower plants, fruit trees, and nursery stock (Kelton 1975). In fact, over half of the cultivated plant species grown in the United States are listed as host plants for tarnished plant bugs (Capinera 2001). This document is EENY-245 (originally published as DPI Entomology Circular 320), one of a series of Featured Creatures from the Entomology and Nematology Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Published: November 2001. EENY-245/IN513: Tarnished Plant Bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) (Insecta: Hemiptera: Miridae) (ufl.edu)

Tomicus piniperda (Linnaeus), a pine shoot beetle native to Europe, was first discovered in the United States in July 1992, in a Christmas tree plantation in Ohio. Since then, intensive surveying by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state departments of agriculture has revealed its presence (as of 29 December 2003) in twelve northern states: Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin (Anonymous 2004b). Because T. piniperda occurs about as far south in the Old World as the latitude of Florida, it is considered a potential threat to at least some of the pine species intensively cultivated in Florida. This document is EENY-321 (originally published as DPI Entomology Circular 354), one of a series of Featured Creatures from the Entomology and Nematology Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Published: April 2004. Revised: September 2005. EENY-321/IN596: Pine Shoot Beetle, Tomicus piniperda (Linnaeus) (Insecta: Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) (ufl.edu)

The Nantucket pine tip moth, Rhyacionia frustrana (Comstock), is a serious pest of young pine in plantations, wild pine seedlings in open areas, Christmas tree plantings, ornamental pines, and pine seed orchards in the United States. Growth loss and stem deformity, caused by larvae feeding inside growing shoots, buds, and conelets, can be considerable during the first five years when most damage occurs (Yates et al. 1981). The increasing population of a preferred host species, loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.), in Florida poses an ever-increasing problem of Nantucket pine tip moth infestations. This document is EENY-304 (originally published as DPI Entomology Circular 298), one of a series of Featured Creatures from the Entomology and Nematology Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Published: August 2003. EENY304/IN581: Nantucket Pine Tip Moth, Rhyacionia frustrana (Comstock) (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) (ufl.edu)

Pine sawfly larvae, Neodiprion spp., are the most common defoliating insects of pine trees, Pinus spp., in Florida. Sawfly infestations can cause growth loss and mortality, especially when followed by secondary attack by bark and wood-boring beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae, Cerambycidae, Scolytidae,). Trees of all ages are susceptible to sawfly defoliation (Barnard and Dixon 1983, Coppel and Benjamin 1965). This document is EENY-317 (originally published as DPI Entomology Circular No. 258), one of a series of Featured Creatures from the Entomology and Nematology Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Published: January 2004. EENY317/IN592: Pine Sawflies, Neodiprion spp. (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Diprionidae) (ufl.edu)