University of Alberta research has discovered new chemicals carried by fungi in the mountain pine beetle that could be used to build better traps in the battle against the ravaging forest pest.
The Grosmannia fungi associated with the insect emit several chemical odours that have proven attractive to other types of bark beetles, according to a new study led by post-doctoral fellow Jonathan Cale.
The hope is that those chemicals can also be used against the mountain pine beetle, which has attacked millions of hectares of Western Canada’s pine forest.
The discovery “opens up a whole range of possible attractants that could be used to improve baits being used to manage the beetle,” Cale said.
Continue reading at University of Alberta.
Image via Getty Images.