Occasionally adults will lay eggs in trees which were temporarily under stress and the larvae may girdle these live trees when the tunnels of several individuals cut off the plant vascular system. Bark beetles which kick out sawdust-like shavings when they enter the tree trunk are making use of a freshly killed tree, and are not the cause of death. Occasionally, bark beetles can attack apparently healthy trees in sufficient number to gain a foothold. This often happens where a large number of pines or spruces were damaged from storms or fire and the large population of new bark beetles have nothing else to attack. Fortunately, most species in the northeastern United States only attack weak or dying trees.
Some species attack branches or cones but the ones which can kill a tree attack the trunk.
Adults overwinter in pupal cells hollowed out of the bark. These adults emerge in the spring and females locate a suitable tree for egg laying. A female will chew a round hole into the bark and go down to the cambium layer. The female then deposits three to six eggs in galleries set off from the central chamber. The eggs hatch into small white grubs with brown heads.