Chemical signals from fungi tell bark beetles which trees to infest

The chemical signature could also be used to build better bark beetle traps

fungi growing on wood

Some fungi (shown) are only found in association with bark beetles. These fungi break down tree chemicals and can entice invading bark beetles to burrow.

Dineshkumar Kandasamy and Veit Grabe (CC BY 4.0)

Fungi may help some tree-killer beetles turn a tree’s natural defense system against itself.

The Eurasian spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) has massacred millions of conifers in forests across Europe.