Spruce bark beetles hijack their host tree’s chemical defenses, transforming them into potent weapons against fungal threats.

Bark beetles can destroy spruce forests by converting the trees' defences into even more toxic substances, scientists ...

Spruce bark is rich in phenolic compounds that protect trees from pathogenic fungi. A research team at the Max Planck ...

This is because the beetle can break down the plant-derived compounds (phenolic glucosides) via a water-mediated process ...

Q. My 20-something-old redbud tree has developed lichens on the trunk, which is a first. Do I have a problem and is there anything I should do? I have another one in the yard which doesn’t have this ...