Scolytus

Scolytus 

a genus of beetles of the family Scolytidae. They live predominantly on deciduous trees (one species, on the larch). The body measures from 1.5 to 7 mm long. Members of Scolytus, as do all the Scolytidae, live under the bark of trees and bore tunnels in the phloem and even in the sapwood. When there is mass reproduction, the beetles weaken and sometimes completely destroy the trees. There are approximately 200 species distributed in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. In the USSR there are about 50 species, predominantly in the south of the European part and in the Far East (in Primor’e). A number of species are dangerous pests of forests and orchards: the birch-bark beetle (S. ratzeburgi) and species that develop on the elm (S. scolytus, S. multistriatus).