Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 May 2012
The biological and ecological relationships of the hickory timber beetle, Xyleborus celsus Eichoff (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), and black hickory, Carya texana (Buckley), were studied for 2 years in south-central Missouri. X. celsus was bivoltine and overwintered as an adult. Development from egg to adult required ca. 35 days. There were three larval instars. Brood adults either extended the galleries in which they completed immature development or emerged to seek new hosts. Most attacks occurred within 1.5 m above ground level The most heavily attacked height interval in the basal 1 m of 10–17 cm D.B.H. trees varied. This variability is correlated to the temporal relation of girdling of the tree and beetle attack. Aspect of beetle attack varied at random. Conditions for X. celsus development were not uniform in the basal 1 m of infested trees.