State Agricultural Officials Urge Citizens to Report Signs of Asian Longhorned Beetle Damage

Early detection could prevent damage to agricultural crops and forests

Click here to download high-resolution photographs of Asian longhorned beetle

Click here to download high-resolution photographs of Asian longhorned beetle tree damage.

BOSTON – With spring the arrival of spring last week, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (DAR) urges residents and business owners to check their trees for damage from the Asian longhorned beetle before the growth of new leaves makes damage to trunks and branches harder to spot.

Since infested trees line not only backyards, neighborhood streets and office parking lots but also nurseries, crop fields, and maple sugar tree groves, citizens should inspect trees both at their homes and businesses. With the help of residents and business owners, state and federal officials hope to stop the spread of this invasive species, which infests hardwood trees such as maple, birch, horse chestnut, poplar, willow, elm, and ash.

Over the next several weeks, DAR officials will visit with agricultural groups in Dighton, Wellesley and Worcester to teach them how to spot the signs of infestation.

“The DAR is working hard to spread the word that the Asian longhorned beetle should be a significant concern to us all,” DAR Commissioner Doug Petersen said. “The beetle is capable of altering the landscape while negatively affecting agricultural production across the state.”

When the beetles tunnel into trunks and branches of trees, sap flow is disrupted, which weakens and eventually kills trees. There is no cure for this pest. Once a beetle attacks a tree, the only remedy is to cut the tree down.

"We are encouraged by the partnership between state and federal agencies that have brought to bear resources to help manage and overcome this threat," said DAR Assistant Commissioner Scott Soares.

DAR officials note that widespread infestation threatens the nursery, lumber, wood product, maple syrup, and tourism industries and would disrupt the Commonwealth’s forest ecosystem.

“Unless these insects are contained, they could prove to be catastrophic to New England's hardwood forest and the maple syrup industry,” said Tom McCrumm, executive director of the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association and owner of the South Face Farm Sugar House in Ashfield.

To help assess damage and reach out to the agricultural industry, the DAR is hosting training sessions this spring to educate the public about this invasive pest. On March 28, DAR officials are co-hosting a workshop at the Massachusetts Land Conservation Conference at Worcester Technical High School in Worcester. On April 21, DAR officials will train Massachusetts Horticultural Society Master Gardeners in Wellesley about how to teach others to recognize the beetles. On May 12, DAR officials visit the Bristol Country Agricultural High School in Dighton.

Since the insect was first detected in the Commonwealth last August, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has led an ongoing eradication effort in partnership with the DAR, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the City of Worcester, and the towns of Boylston, Holden, Shrewsbury, and West Boylston. Through this initiative, known as the Massachusetts Asian Longhorned Beetle Cooperative Eradication Program, state and federal officials removed 18,758 trees – including infested trees and host trees in danger of infestation – in the Worcester area. The beetle is thought to have been introduced to the United States in New York in 1996 via wood packing material shipped from Asia.

“We are determined to stop the spread of this invasive insect,” said DCR Commissioner Richard K. Sullivan Jr. “The help of residents and business owners will be much appreciated.”

How to spot an infestation

Adult beetles won’t emerge until summer, so spring detection efforts focus on looking for tell-tale signs of damage from last season. Female beetles chew small oval pits, a ½ inch in diameter, to lay their eggs beneath tree bark. After the eggs hatch, the larvae bore into and feed off of living trees over the winter.

Signs of an infestation include smooth, round, dime-sized holes left by adult beetles exiting a tree, sawdust-like material on the ground around the trunk or on tree limbs, and oozing sap. If an exit hole can be easily reached, try fitting the eraser end of a pencil into the hole. If it does not go in straight at least one inch deep, it is not the beetle. The beetles leave exit holes spread out across a tree. A series of holes together in a line is often caused by woodpeckers or sapsuckers.

Throughout the summer, adult beetles emerge and feed on leaves and twigs. Adult beetles are .75- to 1.5-inch long, shiny black insects with irregular white spots and antennae that are one to two times their body length. The beetles can be found anywhere including on park benches, car hoods, patio furniture, sides of houses, and sidewalks. The beetles are most active from early summer through mid-fall and do not attack oaks or conifers such as pine or spruce.

To report suspicious tree damage, view photographs and videos of tree damage or read about the pests, visit http://massnrc.org/pests/alb or call the toll-free Asian longhorned beetle hotline at (866) 702-9938.

For more information about the eradication program, visit http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/alb/alb.shtml