Environmentally Safe Biological Weapon to Counter Tree-eating Bark Beetles

Researchers at Northern Arizona University have developed an environmentally safe method to counter the threat posed by tree-eating armies of bark beetles.  

The researchers exposed the beetles to digitally altered recordings of their own calls, the sounds they make to attract or repel other beetles. The response was instantaneous. The beetles stopped mating or burrowing. Some fled, and some violently attacked each other. As far as the researchers were concerned the best result was that they stopped chewing the bark of the trees. Bark beetles have killed nearly 80 million ponderosa, piñon and lodgepole pines in Arizona and New Mexico.

 Scientists are now experimenting with variations of the calls and studying its effects. When they made the beetle sounds louder and stronger than a typical male mating call the female beetle rejected the male and moved toward the electronic sound. When the researchers manipulated the sounds, at a certain point, the male stopped mating and tore the female apart. 

Researchers are confident that they can come up with an ideal mix of electronic calls to thwart the beetles.