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Combined Forest Pest
Research and
Development Program

Agriculture Handbook
No. 560

Southern Pine
Beetle Handbook

An Aerial Observer's
Guide to Recognizing and
Reporting Southern Pine
Beetle Spots

by Ronald F. Billings
and Coleman Doggett ¹

¹Principal Entomologist, Texas Forest Service, Lufkin,
and Pest Control Forester, North Carolina Division of Forest
Resources, Raleigh.

In 1974 the U.S. Department of Agriculture initiated the Combined Forest Pest Research and
Development Program, an inter-agency effort that concentrated on the Douglas-fir tussock moth
in the West, on the southern pine beetle in the South, and on the gypsy moth in the Northeast.
The work reported in this publication was funded in part by the Program. This handbook is one
in a series on the southern pine beetle.

Contents

• Introduction

• Guidelines for Summer Aerial Surveys
  • Beetle behavior in summer
  • Recognizing SPB spots
  • Evaluating potential spot expansion
  • Determining ground check priorities
  • Followup aerial surveys
  • Updating flight maps
  • Distinguishing SPB spots from other tree problems
  • Fire
  • Foliage diseases
  • Herbicides
  • Other bark beetles
  • Checklist for summer aerial surveys

• Guidelines for Fall, Winter, and Spring Aerial Surveys
  • Fall Surveys
  • Winter Surveys
  • Spring Surveys

• Regional Differences
• Acknowledgement