MAINE PUBLIC • January 10, 2022
One of the most destructive forest pests in the Southeast has made its way to Maine. The southern pine beetle, which has destroyed millions of acres of pine forests in its native South, was discovered in Waterboro last fall. Scientists say the ecosystem of Maine’s pitch pine barrens is at risk. Its Latin genus name Dendroctonus means "tree killer." One southern pine beetle is only half the size of a grain of rice. Yet, its infestations are vast enough to be seen from outer space. This highly adapted tree killer prefers the "hard pine" species like red, pitch and jack, and is by nature epidemic.