Any one of a number of species of mainly wood-boring beetles. Some live just under the bark and others bore deeper into the hardwood. The detailed tunnelling pattern that they make within the trunk varies with the species concerned, and is used for identification. Generally, but not always, dead or dying timber is attacked.
Some species transmit pathogens, for example, the fungus that causes Dutch elm disease.
Examples include the birch bark beetle Scolytus ratzeburgi and the greater fruit-tree bark beetle S. meli . Classification Bark beetles are in the families Curculionidae or Scolytidae, order Coleoptera, class Insecta, phylum Arthropoda. The social habits of members of this family are diverse. The genus Scolytus is monogamous.