News Life Chemical signals from fungi tell bark beetles which trees to infest The chemical signature could also be used to build better bark beetle traps Some fungi (shown) are only found in association with bark beetles. These fungi break down tree chemicals and can entice invading bark beetles to burrow. Dineshkumar Kandasamy and Veit Grabe (CC BY 4.0) Share this:EmailFacebookTwitterPinterestPocketRedditPrint By Freda Kreier February 21, 2023 at 2:24 pm Fungi may help some tree-killer beetles turn a tree’s natural defense system against itself. The Eurasian spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) has massacred millions of conifers in forests across Europe.