Pine Flat Bug

(Aradus cinnamomeus), a bug of the family Aradidae, a dangerous pest of pines. The reddish brown body is 3.5–5 mm in length. The pine flat bug occurs wherever pines grow. The insect lives under the bark of trees between the ages of five and 25 years; it does not inhabit old and weakened trees. There is one generation every two years. Both adult bugs and larvae are injurious. Infested trees are marked by retarded growth, and their tops dry out. The trees eventually die. Predators of the pine flat bug are the snake fly, ichneumon flies, red ants, nuthatches, tree creepers, and barred woodpeckers. Often the bug becomes infected with muscardine. Control measures include treatment of foci of infestation with insecticides in the autumn and early spring and the placing of three or four ants’ nests per hectare of plantings.