I just read that Asian longhorned beetles have been discovered in Boston, across the street from the Arnold Arboretum, the country's oldest public arboretum. Teams of tree climbers and spotters, sent in by federal officials, have begun laboriously examining every tree vulnerable to the beetle within 1.5 miles. Apparently, if you move quickly you can stop the infestation from spreading by destroying the wood as the beetle only moves in less than 1 mile increments.
Trees favored by the Asian Longhorned Beetle are predominantly maples, but infestations have also been discovered in horsechestnuts, poplars, willows, elms, mulberries and black locusts. Currently, there is no known chemical or biological defense against the Asian Longhorned Beetle and, in North America, they have no known natural predators.
I realize that isolated Asian Longhorned Beetle infestations have been discovered in Brooklyn and in Chicago, but where else will it pop up next?
ASIAN LONG-HORNED BEETLE WEBINAR
This week's EAB University will focus on another invasive wood-boring pest -- Asian Longhorned Beetle.
Dr. Brendon Reardon will be leading the webinar session. Dr. Reardon is the National Program Manager for both pine shoot beetle and the Asian longhorned beetle programs with Emergency and Domestic Programs of the USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The ALB Cooperative Eradication Program is a partnership among federal, state, and local agencies in affected areas to eradicate reproducing ALB populations where they occur.
The EAB University webinar session will be held on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. You can access the webinar at : http://breeze.msu.edu/eab-university/.
Here are a couple of links on Asian longhorned beetle that provide more information on the pest:
http://beetlebusters.info/
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/asian_lhb/index.shtml
More information on the EAB University webinars can be found at www.emeraldashborer.info.
Could you image what our forests would look like if these pests never made it here?
Imagine there was no Chestnut blight, Dutch Elm desease, or Emerald Ash Borer. What wonderful forests we would have.
Another location has been found. This time in Southern Ohio.
http://www.agri.ohio.gov/asianbeetle/
APHIS STARTS SURVEY FOR ASIAN LONGHORNED BEETLE IN OHIO
FEDERAL AND STATE OFFICIALS ANNOUNCE TREE SURVEY EFFORTS IN OHIO
DUE TO THE DISCOVERY OF ASIAN LONGHORNED BEETLE
http://www.agri.ohio.gov/asianbeetle/docs/Adult_Detection_ALB.pdf
What do they do once they do find the beetles? I know there was/is a big section of MA that is quarantined, but do they cut down the forests where they find the beetle? Or just try to kill the beetle? I can't imagine how you can find all those little buggers!
I have not been too involved with ALB eradication. But I do know that a lot of trees have been cut down to stop this thing. It will be interesting to see how this site is handled, since the other places it has been found have been mostly urban forests. This is a different kind of landscape.
Invasive Asian Long-Horned Beetle Found in Ohio
Columbus Dispatch (June 17) - Another tree killing beetle from Asia has been found in Ohio-the Asian long-horned beetle. State and federal agriculture officials reported this afternoon that they found the pest in Bethel, located about 30 miles southeast of Cincinnati. The discovery was prompted by a resident who reported unusual damage to three maple trees.
The E-Forester
(Detroit, MI - August 26) - The Asian longhorned beetle, which has damaged more than 97,000 trees in Ohio alone, is considered a serious threat to Michigan's hardwoods, which make up 53 percent of the trees in the Great Lakes State.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/08/25/asian-longhorned-beetle-michigan/104966110/
The E-Forester