{"id":3520,"date":"2024-07-11T15:00:57","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T15:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cwc.utah.gov\/environmental-dashboard\/?page_id=3520"},"modified":"2025-06-02T16:52:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T16:52:07","slug":"insect-damage","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cwc.utah.gov\/central-wasatch-dashboard\/vegetation\/insect-damage\/","title":{"rendered":"Insect Damage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Insect Damage to Trees<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Bark beetles and balsam wooly adelgids are two insects causing extensive damage to trees across Utah. They can wipe out entire forest stands, as seen in many portions of the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trees defend themselves by producing sap to deter these insects from laying their eggs below the bark. However, sap production decreases under drought stress, making trees more vulnerable.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Douglas
Douglas Fir Beetle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Balsam
Balsam woolly adelgids<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Sap
Sap exuding from a Douglas fir<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Egg
Egg and larval galleries of Douglas-fir beetle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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During droughts, the reduced sap production makes trees more vulnerable to beetle attacks. Eggs and larval galleries lie just below the bark layer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first signs of insect damage include the appearance of brown needles, followed by needle drop and eventually tree death.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Climate changes are leading to warmer winters, resulting in fewer overwintering deaths of these insects. As a result, insect damage is increasing, and forest health is declining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a> to read the state\u2019s latest report on insects and disease across Utah’s forests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a> to see a video of Dr. Barbara Bentz at Utah State University talking about her research on bark beetles and what inspired her to become a research scientist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a> to learn more of Dr. Bentz\u2019s current research.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Dr.
Dr. Barbara Bentz is one of the world’s foremost specialists in bark beetles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Insect Damage to Trees Bark beetles and balsam wooly adelgids are two insects causing extensive damage to trees across Utah. They can wipe out entire forest stands, as seen in many portions of the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains. Trees defend themselves by producing sap to deter these insects from laying their eggs below the bark. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":396,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","ocean_post_layout":"left-sidebar","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"ocs-vegetation-category-sidebar","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"vegetation-header","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3520","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":null,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cwc.utah.gov\/central-wasatch-dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cwc.utah.gov\/central-wasatch-dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cwc.utah.gov\/central-wasatch-dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cwc.utah.gov\/central-wasatch-dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cwc.utah.gov\/central-wasatch-dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3520"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/cwc.utah.gov\/central-wasatch-dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3855,"href":"https:\/\/cwc.utah.gov\/central-wasatch-dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3520\/revisions\/3855"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cwc.utah.gov\/central-wasatch-dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cwc.utah.gov\/central-wasatch-dashboard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}