A genus of bark beetles that burrow under tree bark, creating galleries that can kill large forests if populations explode.
From Greek dendro- (tree) + kteinein (to kill). The genus name literally means 'tree-killer,' reflecting the destructive impact these beetles can have on forest ecosystems when their populations outbreak.
Dendroctonus beetles communicate with each other using chemicals called pheromones to coordinate massive attacks on healthy trees—thousands of beetles will swarm a single tree and literally strip it from the inside out, and climate change is making these outbreaks more frequent and devastating!
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