True outside of their natural area they just dont seem to grow as nicely as in the mountains( even in my city the monterey pines arent as lush and nice as they are in monterey ( and im only ten miles away)Anyhow ive seen trees so over come by the pith canker that theyre dripping pitch. And yes the beetles do finish them off but the fungus does injure them fatally ( like getting burned and then infection killing you off). Some trees just get hit harder than others. A tree in my neighborhood took a year and a half to succumb. While one a few houses down died within three months of showing symptoms. Note: P. Radiata are grown in NZ primarily for lumber. theyve been bred to have a dead straight trunk ( naturally its slightly curved) and few branches. BJ