A Future Without Maple: The threat of the Asian Longhorned Beetle
The ALB poses a grave threat to maple trees, and to the maple syrup industry.
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The ALB poses a grave threat to maple trees, and to the maple syrup industry.
This presentation by Tim Barwise (MA-DCR) the 2018 Vermont Maple Conferences covers the current infestation and the USDA-APHIS response to asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) in the greater Worcester, MA area.
The Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky), threatens urban and forest hardwood trees both where introduced and in parts of its native range. Native to Asia, this beetle has hitchhiked several times in infested wood packaging used in international trade, and has established breeding populations in five U.S. states, Canada, and at least 11 countries in Europe. It has a broad host range for a cerambycid that attacks living trees, but in the introduced ranges it prefers maples. Identification, classification, and life history of this insect are reviewed here. Eradication is the goal where it has been introduced, which requires detection of infested trees using several approaches, including ground and tree-climbing surveys. Several agencies and researchers in the United States and Europe are evaluating the use of pheromone- and kairomone-baited traps. Control options beyond cutting down infested trees are limited.
This pictorial guide provides basic information for identifying the Asian longhorned beetle, its injury characteristics, and its common host trees. The guide will help users detect the beetle in both urban and forested settings.
ItÕs been 10 years since the ALB was first reported in Worcester, Massachusetts, and since then 24,179 ALB-infested trees have been found and removed, including the four trees mentioned. This has dramatically changed the character of the heaviest hit Worcester neighborhoods, Greendale and Burncoat, and resulted in a massive reforestation effort. Those neighborhoods were the center of the infestation and nearly every single host tree, including street trees, were removed in the effort to eradicate this pest. The DCR ALB Reforestation program, Worcester Tree Initiative, the city of Worcester, and the other five municipalities in the regulated area have replanted thousands of trees. Today, those young trees have become established and have started to provide much needed shade and wind breaks.