Verbenone Pouches: How they Work

Female beetles attack a tree first, and release a pheromone that attracts male beetles. As the males arrive, they release a "cocktail" of pheromones, which attracts female AND male beetles. The pheromone "cocktail" blows down wind, and brings in large numbers of beetles. This is what makes the Mountain Pine Beetle so wonderfully efficient: it's ability to mass attack one tree, defeat the trees defences and then move on to the next one (usually close by).

When the Mountain Pine Beetles sense that their host tree is nearing a state of overpopulation, they produce another pheromone called Verbenone that tells other beetles downwind that they should find a different tree to attack.

This is how Verbenone works; it tells the beetles that a tree is already infested, over-populated, and they should search for another tree.

Verbenone Pouches are full of a synthesized Beetle Verbenone. When attached to the tree, the pouches begin to slowly release the pheromone, surrounding the tree with wafting beetle scent that sends incoming beetles scurrying for a different tree. The pouches fool the beetles into thinking that your trees are already infested. The pouch puts a "No Vacancy" sign on the tree.

Mountain Pine Beetles have a limited supply of energy. Therefore, the longer they spend looking for a new host, the higher the mortality from extended flight. Flitting from one tree toward another with a "No Vacancy" sign ultimately exhausts them to death.