Mite Predators of the Southern Pine Beetle1

Of 51 mites found with brood of the southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann, and tested in the laboratory, four are primary candidates for use as natural control agents in reducing field infestations: Histiogaster arborsignis Woodring, Proctolaelaps dendroctoni Lindquist & Hunter, Macrocheles boudreauxi Krantz, and Dendrolaelops neodisetus Hurlbutt. Four others are secondary choices: Eugamasus lyriformis Mc-Graw & Farrier, Dendrolaelaps neocornutus Hurlbutt, D. isodentatus Hurlbutt, and Proctolaelaps fiseri Samsinak.