There is a new and scary menace to the trees of North America:

The Asian Longhorned Beetle.

Asian Longhorned Beetles invaded North America in wooden packing crates from China. they have been found in warehouses all over the United States and in Canada. Although, to date, they are only known to be attacking trees in southeastern New York State and the Chicago, Illinois area.

The adult beetles are big and dramatic looking. They are about 7 cm long with antennae up to 2.5 times their body length (hence the name). They are black with white flecks. The legs and antennae are banded with a slight bluish tint. They may be seen at any time from early spring to late autumn feeding on twig bark.

The female Asian Longhorned Beetle lays her eggs (30-75) in a shallow coneshaped excavation, which she chews in mature bark. She then covers the eggs with a sticky secretion. The larvae feed in tunnels near the surface, until they are ready to pupate in the heartwood. The resulting matrix of tunnels, each perhaps 1.5 cm in diameter, may weaken a tree to the point where it falls over, or parts of it fall off. In any case, the vascular system will be so damaged that the tree may die.

Asian Longhorn Beetles are giving urban forestry people nightmares, because they are most fond of the same types of trees: namely, Norway Maples (and their many popular cultivars) and Chestnuts. They are also known to attack Black Locusts, Elms, and Birch. In fact, because they are new arrivals, they could develop a taste for practically anything. So far, the only cost effective control measure is to cut down infested trees and destroy them, in the hope of also destroying the beetles.

On the bright side, Asian Longhorned Beetles are known to be reluctant travellers. They can fly; but, due to their size, prefer not to. So infestations tend to be limited to relatively small areas.

Adult Asian Longhorned Beetles are quite easy to spot. Their presence, especially the presence of their young, can also be surmised from such evidence as mounds of sawdust on the branches of trees and holes resembling bullet wounds in the bark. The egg patches, resembling dark smears on the bark, may also be apparent.

If a person does see an Asian Longhorned Beetle, or suspects the beetles are about, they are requested (in the strongest terms) to notify the authorities. In Illinois, there is a "Hot-line". There are bound to be others.