Insects 2012, 3, 200-227; doi:10.3390/insects3010200 OPEN ACCESS insects ISSN 2075-4450 www.mdpi.com/journal/insects/ Review Associations of Conifer-Infesting Bark Beetles and Fungi in Fennoscandia Riikka Linnakoski 1,2,*, Z. Wilhelm de Beer 3, Pekka Niemelä 1 and Michael J. Wingfield 3 1 Department of Biology, Section of Biodiversity and Environmental Science, University of Turku, Turku 20014, Finland; E-Mail:
[email protected] 2 Faculty of Science and Forestry, School of Forest Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, Joensuu 80101, Finland 3 Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa; E-Mails:
[email protected] (Z.W.B.);
[email protected] (M.J.W.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +358-44-533-0212; Fax: +358-2-333-6598. Received: 10 January 2012; in revised form: 10 January 2012 / Accepted: 17 January 2012 / Published: 15 February 2012 Abstract: Bark beetles (Coleoptera, Scolytinae) have a widespread association with fungi, especially with ophiostomatoid fungi (Ascomycota) that cause blue staining of wood, and in some cases, serious tree diseases. In Fennoscandia, most studies of these fungi have focused on economically important bark beetle species and this is likely to have led to a biased view of the fungal biodiversity in the region. Recently, the associations between fungi and bark beetles in Fennoscandia have been shown to be more diverse than previously thought. Furthermore, they form complex and dynamic associations that are only now beginning to emerge.