Pine sawyer beetles in Christmas tree plantations in Nova Scotia, Canada.

What is it about?

Pine sawyer beetles are a vector of the Pinewood nematode which causes Pine Wilt Disease in numerous conifer species. Trees likely to be hosts for the pine sawyer beetle and the nematode tend to be mature, or stressed. Balsam fir Christmas trees are young and healthy members of the Abies genus. It was unknown if the pine sawyer beetle would visit these trees and whether they would transmit the nematode to these trees. This study examined 2 types of pine sawyer beetle trap baited with 2 different lures and compared trap captures in the plantations with the surrounding forest.

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Photo by Félix Bouthillier on Unsplash

Photo by Félix Bouthillier on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Wood products from areas with known populations of the pinewood nematode and the pine sawyer beetle are banned from import into the European market. Christmas tree producers wanted to determine if their wood product, a Christmas tree, could be exempt from this ban on the grounds that the young healthy trees are not hosts for the pine sawyer beetle. Demonstration that Christmas trees do not host the pine sawyer beetle and the pinewood nematode would open the discussion for export of Canadian Christmas trees into the European market.