Red Oak Borer - Forest Entomology, Fred Stephen's Lab

Red Oak Borer
Situation to date:

In the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas and Missouri a complex interaction of multiple factors has resulted in an unprecedented outbreak of a native wood-boring beetle, the red oak borer, Enaphalodes rufulus (Haldeman) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). This epidemic is associated with dramatic and extensive tree mortality affecting tens of thousands of oaks, primarily northern red oak, Quercus rubra L. This event has severe economic, aesthetic and ecological implications to local communities, forest wildlife and to forest patrons.

Damage Cross Sections Adult

Female

Male

Male

The range of red oak borer and concomitant oak decline extends across the eastern United States from Texas and Oklahoma north into Canada. The current epidemic of oak mortality and epidemic red oak borer populations is centered in the Ozark National Forest in Northwestern Arkansas, but extends throughout the Ozark Plateau and includes oak through much of northern and central Arkansas, southern Missouri and eastern Oklahoma. Population levels of red oak borer appear to have peaked and were considerably lower with the 2005 cohort, but sampling continues to monitor populations. In comparison to many forest pest species, the knowledge base on red oak borer is limited, but over the last several years our lab has made considerable inroads in this area. This beetle is normally at low endemic levels in deciduous forests of the Eastern U.S. attacking oak species throughout its range (Solomon 1995). Adults are striking, large brownish beetles about an inch or more in length. The life cycle of this beetle is rather unique as it spans a two-year period with synchronous adult emergence occurring in odd-numbered years only.