Fight against drying forests to be carried out with insects

GİRESUN

Some 65,000 insects that will be grown in a laboratory environment in the Black Sea province of Giresun will fight harmful insects that cause the drying of spruce trees in the region.

Observations and investigations by the officials have revealed that the giant bark-beetle, also known as “Dendroctonus micans,” has caused irreparable damage to spruce trees in dense forest areas.

Biological control laboratories were established this year in Kulakkaya and Çambaşı plateaus to observe the drying of the trees.

As the production of predatory beetles was started in the logs prepared in the laboratory, some of the maturing insects were placed on the trees in the designated areas.

The aim is to prevent the damage to spruce trees in forests by biological methods and to ensure population balance as well.

An insect damage from Georgia, which left a smoke-free fire effect, occurred since the 1960s in the spruce forests in the region of the eastern Black Sea, said Ahmet Güneş, head of the Provincial Directorate of Forestry in Giresun.

Güneş noted that there has been no struggle for about five years, but they restarted insect production after observing the damage this year again.

Explaining that they collected the larvae of the harmful insects in the laboratory and placed them in the logs they had prepared, Güneş noted that the adults of the beneficial insects, two males and one female, were placed in the same logs.

The beneficial insects reproduce, complete their feeding, come out of the logs and become mature within 50-60 days and are ready to be released in the forest, according to Güneş.

“At present, we aim to produce 65,000 beneficial insects in two laboratories in this way, placing them on trees where harmful insects pose a threat to our forests,” he said.