Title: Do bark beetles and wood borers infest lumber following heat treatment? The role of bark

Author: Haack, Robert A.; Petrice, Toby R.; Nzokou, Pascal

Year: 2007

Publication: In: Gottschalk, Kurt W., ed. Proceedings, 17th U.S. Department of Agriculture interagency research forum on gypsy moth and other invasive species 2006; Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-10. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 46.

Abstract: Wood packing material (WPM) is an important pathway for the movement of bark- and wood-infesting insects (Haack 2006). New international standards for treating WPM, often referred to as "ISPM 15," were adopted in 2002 (FAO 2002). The two approved WPM treatments are heat treatment (56? C core temperature for 30 min) and fumigation with methyl bromide. These treatments aim to kill insects and disease organisms that reside in the wood at the time of treatment. Currently, ISPM 15 allows bark to be present on treated WPM; however, it is not known if insects can infest WPM after treatment, especially when bark is present. In 2005, we investigated whether insects would infest recently milled green lumber that had varying amounts of bark along one edge of each board. This study was conducted as part of an international collaborative effort under the auspices of the "International Forestry Quarantine Research Group" (Http://www.forestry-quarantine.org/).