Seasonality and lure preference of bark beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) and associates in a northern Arizona ponderosa pine forest

Ponderosa pine forests in northern Arizona have historically experienced limited bark beetle-caused tree mortality, and little is known about the bark beetle community in these forests. Our objectives were to describe the flight seasonally and lure preference of bark beetles and their associates in these forests. We monitored bark beetle populations for 24 consecutive months in 2002 and 2003 using Lindgren funnel traps with five different pheromone lures. In both years, the majority of bark beetles were trapped between May and October, and the peak captures of coleopteran predator species, Enoclerus (F.) (Cleridae) and Temnochila chlorodia (Mannerheim), occurred between June and August. Trap catches of Elacatis (Coleoptera: Othniidae, now Salpingidae), a suspected predator, peaked early in the spring. For wood borers, trap catches of the Buprestidae family peaked in late May/early June, and catches of the Cerambycidae family peaked in July/August. The lure targeted for Dendroctonus brevicomis LeConte attracted the largest percentage of all Dendroctonus beetles except for D. valens LeConte, which was attracted in highest percentage to the lure targeted for D. valens. The lure targeted for Ips pini attracted the highest percentage of beetles for all three Ips species [I.pini (Say), I. latidens (LeConte), and I. lecontei Swaine] and the two predators, Enoclerus and T. chlorodia. The lures targeted for D. valens and I. pini attracted the highest percentage of beetles in the Elacatis genus and the Cerambycidae family. Beetles in the Buprestidae family showed no strong preference for any lure type.