Hylastes bark beetles attacking wet plywood in attic

Ryder Richards responded to a rodent call in Groveland, Pine Mt Lake, near the airport. The house was actually a partially converted airplane hanger. He placed glueboards in the attic. Upon follow-up, he found that a couple of the glueboards had these small beetles in them. The glueboards that had the beetles were in a wet area. There had been a leak in the attic, more than a month prior. It was still wet. The house-hanger has metal sides.

We sent pictures of the beetles to Dr. Lynn Kimsey. who forwarded them to Jeff Smith. who identified them as a species of Hylastes, a type of bark beetle.

What we have, in these photos, are adult beetles, eggs, and a larvae.

These beetles were actually breeding in the moist plywood ceiling. I don’t know if this has been recorded previously.