THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 6, 1995 TAG: 9510060493
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROANOKE ISLAND LENGTH: Long : 131 lines
``Attack of the Pine Beetles'' may sound like a catchy title for a science fiction flick.
But for state forestry officials, the tiny insect's ravages are all too real.
Stands of healthy Southern pines - some covering up to 27 acres - have been devastated by the bug in northeastern North Carolina.
Louis Midgett Jr. has been a forest ranger in Dare County for 23 years. This year's beetle outbreak, he said, is the worst he's seen.
``About 20 years ago, we had an infestation in Spencer's Wood subdivision down on Hatteras Island near Frisco. The state used spraying to try to get the beetles out. But they got a lot of complaints from residents, who said that the spraying killed the bumblebees and honey bees and butterflies,'' Midgett said Thursday.
``I don't know if it's true or not,'' said Midgett. ``But not long after that, the state stopped spraying.''
Now the beetle is back, invading the lush forests of the north end of Roanoke Island, the Dare County mainland, and beyond.
``We've seen evidence of the beetle in every acre on this island,'' Midgett said.
Initially, the infestation may not be visible to the naked eye. But to find the first clue, landowners should turn their eyes to the skies.
``You'll see browning on the tops of the trees,'' said Susan Ruiz-Evans of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. ``But also, at eye level, you'll see pitch tubes that look like popcorn in the bark.''
Pitch tubes are evidence that the tree is trying to fight off the insect.
``Some of the old-timers here said they called them pitch tubes because it seems the trees are trying to pitch the bugs out,'' Midgett said. ``But once the beetles girdle the trees, they are as good as dead. The needles may be green. But that tree is a goner.''
Landowners must remove diseased trees from healthy groves of pines to keep the beetles from spreading. The beetle, about 1/8 inch long, kills pines by burrowing under the bark, destroying the conductive tissue that provides nourishment to the trees and killing their immune system.
Forestry officials say the first evidence of the insect appeared in January. Nature and humans have contributed to the resurgence of the pine pest.
``If we have a drought like we had this year, you're going to see a resurgence of the beetle,'' Midgett said. ``And in areas where a new road is being built, or a new subdivision, and trees are scarred, you're likely to see the beetles.''
The impact of new construction in an area may not be seen for years.
``If bulldozers and other heavy equipment run over the root system and compact the soil, it may be five or six years before you see evidence of the beetle,'' said Midgett. ``If a car runs over your foot, you're going to know it right away. But a tree may not feel the impact of a bulldozer running over the root system for years.''
Scarred trees also attract the tiny bugs.
``When trees are scarred, and the sap begins to run, it attracts the pine beetles,'' Midgett said. ``Once they get in under the bark, they just choke the life out of the tree.''
Tex Williams has seen the damage these insects can do. A Creswell-based logger, Williams is removing diseased trees from residential areas on Roanoke Island. As he talked, he plucked a piece of bark from one of the logs.
On the bark's underside, tiny lines like those on a road map were indented in the wood. A blue-green stain also was evident, the mark of a tree that has succumbed to the bug. The pines in this pile of once-stately trees were between 59 and 75 years old.
``It looks like it's been shot with a shotgun,'' Williams said of one tree.``The stain stops when you get to the heart of the wood. It stops there because there's no sap in the center.''
The blue stain is the fungus the insects transmit that strangles the trees.
``Everywhere I go, I've seen them,'' said Williams, owner of Tex Williams and Sons Logging. ``I've seen them in Chowan, Tyrrell, Washington, Beaufort, everywhere.''
In most instances, the commercial value of the tree is not diminished by the beetle blight. However, the pine beetle makes the trees vulnerable to a second wave of attack from other insects, such as the ambrosia beetle.
``Once a tree has been girdled by the pine beetle, the ambrosia beetle bores its way into the trees,'' Midgett said. ``You'll see small holes and shavings of lumber that look like ambrosia at the base of the tree.''
The Southern pine beetle feeds exclusively on pine trees. However, they can have a negative short-term effect on other trees like live oaks and dogwoods.
``The pine trees form protection for the other species of trees,'' Midgett said. ``When we remove the trees, the dogwoods and live oaks are exposed to more sunlight than they're used to. It's like a `false drought.'
``If you go out in the sun without a hat and you haven't been out for a while, you're going to get burned. But once you've been out for several days, it will be all right. These dogwoods and live oaks may be hurt for a little while. But they'll come back stronger than they were. Without live oaks and dogwoods, Roanoke Island just isn't Roanoke Island.''
Found throughout North Carolina, the Southern pine beetle is common from Pennsylvania to Arizona, and south as Honduras. It is one of the most destructive enemies of Southern pines.
Jeffrey Midgett leaned first-hand the damage the bug can do. Beetles destroyed about 3.5 acres of his pines.
``I've never seen anything like it before,'' Jeffrey Midgett said. ``They did a lot of damage. No doubt about it.''
As the insect does a number on pines throughout the region, forestry officials are hopeful that landowners will take action, and that Mother Nature will lend a helping hand.
``What we need is about four or five days of really cold weather,'' Midgett said. ``Last year, we didn't have enough weather like that. We also have a lot of natural predators, like woodpeckers. But we don't have enough woodpeckers to deal with this.''
With prospects for colder weather at least two months away, and prevailing northeast and southwest winds moving the beetles back and forth like a ball in a tennis match, it may be up to man to end this recent beetle outbreak.
Cooperative extension and forestry personnel are available to assist homeowners in contacting loggers who will remove the trees in exchange for the lumber.
``My biggest fear,'' Midgett said, ``is that with the unusual weather we have been having, this could destroy every pine tree on Roanoke Island.'' MEMO: INFORMATION
For more information on the Southern pine beetle and how to fight it,
contact Louis Midgett at 919-473-3262 or Susan Ruiz-Evans at
919-473-1101, ext. 241.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by DREW C. WILSON, Staff
Above, Louis Midgett Jr., of the North Carolina Forest Service,
inspects a pine infected by the Southern pine beetle. Yellow pitch
tubes are evident where the tree has tried to fight off the insects.
Below right, tunnels show under the bark of an infected tree.
Color drawing of beetle
by CNB