DENVER — The city of Denver is on the hunt for beetle-infested trees.
On Wednesday, the Denver Parks and Recreation department removed 13 spruce trees from Cheesman Park because they found the Engraver Beetle in them.
The insect feasts on stressed or dying conifer trees, like spruce, pine or fir trees, according to Frank Krell, an entomologist.
They live under the bark, Krell said, tunneling and eating until the tree dies.
While Engraver Beetles are always in Denver's urban forest, the city said their numbers flare up every decade or so.
"It often occurs when the weather is extreme like last year we had an extremely dry summer and a very hot summer," Krell explained. "And this year we have another hot summer. That weakens the trees and enables bark beetles to infest the trees much easier."
Denver's Parks and Rec said they have found 74 infected spruce trees around the city this year. Most have been removed and all will be replaced.
In 2002, the city said Denver lost more than 300 trees because of the Engraver Beetle. More than 200 trees died due to the insect 10 years later.
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