I had thirteen loblolly pine trees in my back yard and now I'm afraid that by the end of this year I'll have only four or five. All of them on one side of the yard have been losing their leaves and dropping their branches. The ones on the other side near the drainage ditch have always been greener and more healthy. I live near Dallas Texas so I thought it was the droughts but these trees have been here for twenty something years without hurt until now. Last year we cut one down and entire channels were carved out in the inner bark by these grubs and beetles. There were so many beetles inside the trees that geckos were under the bark. Recently there has been a lot of increased woodpecker activity on the trees. Are the beetles the main problem? If so what kind are they? Is their any way to keep them from spreading any further?