One of the most destructive insect pests of pine trees is expanding its range north. Scientists have found the southern pine beetle in Rhode Island.
Even sturdy evergreens don’t stand a chance once this tiny beetle descends. These insects bore into pine trees, laying eggs and killing them from the inside out.
Researchers at the University of Rhode Island and the state’s Department of Environmental Management have been tracking the beetle after it made a destructive path from the south to New Jersey through Connecticut.
Lisa Tewksbury, research associate at URI, said warming temperatures have brought the insects north.
“In general, our climate is okay for them. It’s just that there is going to be that limit. And maybe that limit use to be at New Jersey, or Long Island, and now it’s up around Rhode Island. They’ve found them in Massachusetts as well,” said Tewksbury.
She said the beetle population is still small, but the state will need to develop a plan to protect local pines should that number grow. She said it will be the DEM’s decision to make that plan.
Paul Ricard, DEM Forest Health Program coordinator, said the state needs to develop a plan to protect local pine trees before the number of beetles grow.
“We need to address or have something in place before something happens because they can cause a lot of mortality in a very short period of time. So we need to be proactive instead of reactive,” Ricard said.
Ricard says they’ll look to neighboring states for insight on how to deal with the problem when it becomes one, as these tiny insects can kill a single pine tree within a matter of just months.