Over 30 years of research on bark beetle anti-aggregation pheromones: Myths and reality

Despite over 30 years of research and development focused on bark beetle anti-aggregation pheromones, there is only one truly successful operational treatment.  The Douglas-fir beetle (Dendroctonus pseudotsugae) anti-aggregation pheromone, 3-methylcyclohex-2-en-1-one (MCH), has been commercially available and operationally used throughout western North America for 24 years to protect high-value, high-risk trees during outbreaks on, cumulatively, hundreds of thousands of acres.  Currently, four companies have MCH formulations registered in the US and two in Canada.  Unfortunately, those involved in attempts to develop similar treatments for other major economically important bark beetle species have failed to recognize the differences in biology, ecology, and population dynamics among different bark beetle species that make this type of treatment realistic for some species and not others.  This paper will address the conditions where anti-aggregation pheromone treatments are and are not likely to be feasible.