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BIOLOGY

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The Scolytidae are phloem-feeders or wood-borers. Phloem feeding genera, such as Scolytus and Dendroctonus, construct characteristic larval galleries in the phloem of trees. Wood-boring forms (ambrosia beetles) bore into the host tree xylem and feed upon fungi which grow on the walls of the burrows. The fungus that the beetles feed upon is transported from tree to tree by the beetles themselves.

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