Waltham services Pest and Termite Control Since 1893
Invasive Asian Longhorned Beetle Being Discovered in Massachusetts
January 21, 2009
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recently announced that surveys are under way, in and around Worcester, Massachusetts to determine the scope of an Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) infestation in the area.
Potentially, the ALB is one of the most destructive and costly invasive species ever to enter the United States. It threatens urban and suburban shade trees and recreational and forest resources valued at hundreds of billions of dollars. If it were to become widely established, its impact would be felt in urban, suburban, and forested parts of the country, as well as in industries such as maple syrup production, hardwood lumber processing, nurseries and tourism.
The ALB, Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky), grows and reproduces within healthy and stressed deciduous hardwood tree species, such as maple, birch, horse chestnut, poplar, willow, elm, and ash. The beetle eventually kills the host tree.
The ALB hitchhiked to the United States nestled deep within hardwoods cut into crates and pallets and used to import goods from Asian countries. There are currently ALB infestations being eradicated in New York and New Jersey, as well as Massachusetts.
APHIS confirmed the presence of the invasive insect in Worcester in August 2008 after an alert citizen reported finding an unusual beetle in the yard. This is the first detection of the invasive pest in New England.
As a result of the detection, APHIS is working cooperatively with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the City of Worcester, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources and the U.S. Forest Service to develop the Massachusetts ALB Cooperative Eradication Program to address the infestation there.
APHIS and state officials immediately quarantined the infested area to stop the spread of the beetle. Currently, this regulated area is 62-square miles, and the interstate and intrastate movement of ALB-host material is restricted. As the survey continues, APHIS and the state will continue to adjust the regulated area as needed. ALB Program officials host training sessions and workshops to assist businesses and individuals in complying with ALB regulations when doing business in the regulated area. Please call 508-799-8327 to express interest in a business compliance training workshop.
Please help stop the ALB by reporting sightings of the beetle and any signs of infestation you may come across. The adult ALB is a large, distinctive-looking insect measuring 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, not including its antennae. These antennae, which give the insect its common name, are as long as the body itself in females and almost twice the body length in males. The insect’s body is shiny black with white spots; the antennae are banded in black and white.
Signs of ALB infestation include: adult beetles themselves during the summer and until frost; the perfectly round exit holes (about 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diameter) made by adult beetles when they emerge from trees; the pockmarks on tree trunks and branches where female beetles deposited eggs; frass (wood shavings and saw dust) produced by larvae feeding and tunneling; early fall coloration of leaves or dead branches and running sap produced by the tree at the egg laying sites, or in response to larval tunneling.
To report signs or symptoms of ALB, please call the Massachusetts ALB program at (508) 799-8330 or 1-866-702-9938. Photos of the ALB and updates on the Massachusetts ALB program can be obtained via the internet at MASSNRC.org. Reports of suspected infestations in Massachusetts can be made at the site too. For more information on the ALB, please also visit www.aphis.usda.gov.
