Photo by V. Miller
Sept. 20, 2006
Invading Bark Beetles
Asian Invaders (Banded Elm Bark Beetles): Are They Lurking in Your Town?
Bailey Terry, 14, Newcastle, Wyo.
Finalist, Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge, 2005
Project background: Bailey's father, a state forester, told her about an invasive species of beetle found in the wood of shipping crates. Foresters know very little about this bug, the banded elm bark beetle. Bailey found one research paper, translated from Russian, and learned that the bugs have only been found on one species of tree in the United States, an elm. She decided to learn more about the beetle's life cycle.
Tactics and results: Bailey began by observing a Siberian elm branch infested with the bark beetles. She determined the beetle's life cycle to be about 1 month. She saw purple sap and fine sawdust where the beetles had dug into the branch. She observed larva feeding on the soft layer just under the tree bark, turning it to mush. She then observed the beetles with samples of the American elm and of other local tree species. The beetles died off in all the samples except the two types of elm.
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| Photo by V. Miller |
Bailey concluded that the invasive bark beetle poses a greater danger to elms than to other trees.
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