A lot of hue and cry has been made over the spread of the Asian Longhorn Beetles in the US in recent years, and in this article, we will tell you exactly why they are so dangerous.
Could you ever think that a small beetle is capable enough of toppling down massive healthy trees? Yes, it is true.
The Asian longhorn beetles are known for their ability to destroy backyard trees by boring continuous network tunnels through the bark.
In this article, we will take a closer look at these insects and the extent of damage they are capable of inflicting. It will share details on how to control these pests.
What Is the Asian Long-Horned Beetle?
The Asian longhorn beetle, also scientifically known as Anoplophora glabripennis, is a member of the vast beetles family that poses a significant threat to a wide range of healthy trees.
These beetles are majorly found in China and neighboring countries. The adult beetles have a glossy black body with an irregular network of white spots on them.
They have 0.75 to 1.25 inches long bodies (this excludes the length of the antennae).
The Asian longhorn beetle larvae feed on the wood of trees by boring tunnels in the trunk of healthy living trees.
How Do Asian Longhorn Beetles Kill Trees?
The adult female beetles lay eggs on chewed depressions that they create in various hardwood trees.
Once these eggs hatch, the beetle larva starts tunneling across the bark of the tree. They create tunnels through different layers of the trees to consume wood.
These larvae spend nearly two to three years inside the host tree.
After constant chewing and tunneling, the larvae reach the woody tissue of the healthy tree and continue to feed on the same, making the tree nearly hollow from the inside.
When the larvae emerge from the tree, they leave behind large gaps of 3/8inch diameter, which allows tree sap to flow from them.
This makes it worse for the poor tree since it weakens it structurally and makes it susceptible to other diseases and pests.
In some cases, the trees become so structurally weak that a strong gust of wind can knock them over.
Which Trees Does it Target?
These beetles often select trees where they can complete their entire lifecycle without having to change their hosts.
In the US, they choose hardwood trees like mountain ashes, sugar maple, chestnut, willow, and more. All of these are economically important trees.
In China, Korea, and other Asian countries, it has infested trees like poplars and mulberries.
What is The Asian Longhorned Beetle’s Damage To the Economy?
We already mentioned that the Asian longhorn beetle could cause significant economic losses.
But how are they capable of doing so? When these insects occupy trees near the street, there is a high chance that these trees might fall at any given point due to a lack of strength.
Thus, they must be removed immediately, and proper treatment must be given to eradicate these insects from the region.
The cost of repairing and replacing the street trees and clearing the ALB population from the area is almost $100 per infested tree.
If these pests enter a forest range, the economic damage can be far more significant.
A complete infestation of these beetles in a well-grown forest of hardwood trees can heavily impact the export market for almost all hardwood products.
Thus, these insects can cause a loss of billions of dollars if they are not stopped. Adding to that, the cost of containment and eradication will also be high.
Where Has This Beetle Spread in the US?
The longhorn beetle was first discovered in New York City and Chicago. Here they were spotted destroying ornamental trees.
Since then, regular detections of these insects have been made in the northeastern part of the United States.
It is conjectured that these bugs entered the US via untreated wooden crates and packaging material from China.
What Can Be Done To Control It?
These pests have some natural enemies, like the woodpecker and red wood ants, but external measures must be taken to eradicate them.
People often use pathogens to kill the populations of these beetles.
The fungus Beauveria bassiana can kill these insects when injected into newly dug holes made in trees. Brongniartii is also exceptional in infecting and killing these adult beetles and their larvae.
Apart from such parasites, entomopathogenic nematodes are also used to get rid of these insects. The S. feltiae nematode is effective in killing these wood-boring beetles.
Lastly, as of now, the method being used is to completely eradicate the trees and surrounding trees that are infested so as to limit the spread.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How does the Asian longhorned beetle impact the environment?
The Asian longhorned beetle highly affects the environment by killing healthy trees of maple, elm, chestnut, willow, mulberry, and more but boring deep tunnels.
This pest has the tendency to destroy shade-giving trees and can also damage an entire forest range that contains trees of high economic value.
Therefore great efforts are taken to eradicate their population completely and ensure that they do not enter our hardwood forests.
How does the Asian longhorned beetle affect biodiversity?
The Asian longhorn beetles are known to destroy a wide range of trees.
The infestation can highly reduce the biodiversity in a forest and alter the population of tree species. Therefore constant external measures are taken to get rid of these Asian longhorn beetles.
Can longhorn beetles fly?
Yes, the longhorn beetles are capable of flying for distances, but they generally cover short distances.
These longhorn beetles are capable of flying and covering up to 8.5 miles, though on average, they travel about 1.4-miles.
Fortunately, these bugs are not very fond of flying and prefer to spend their entire lives inside their host trees.
Do longhorn beetles eat houses?
The longhorn beetles usually do not usually enter houses. They may enter only from the untreated wood brought into the house.
These beetles may come indoors, creating a nuisance, but surprisingly they don’t infest cured lumber that is used to build furniture, nor dried firewood.
Wrap Up
The Asian longhorn beetles are a big threat to biodiversity and the growing species of trees across major forest ranges.
Therefore it is essential to know how to control them and eradicate their populations if you spot an infestation near you. We hope this article will help you with that.
Thank you for reading the article.
13 Comments. Leave new
Along with the Emerald, Ash Borer Asian Long-horned beetles are an invasive species brought to America on ships. Large populattions in New York and New Jersey.
Along with the Emerald, Ash Borer Asian Long-horned beetles are an invasive species brought to America on ships. Large populations in New York and New Jersey.
Phymatodes testaceus — Tanbark borer.
Thanks Arianna,
We will take a look and update the posting. We needed to get out of the (home)office and to our real job, and it is so nice to return with a possible identification.
Hi Mathias
could you please give a size (approx) of the first longhorn
the second longhorn is Titoceres jaspideus refer to http://www.ispotnature.org/node/624397
If possible, please post these two longhorns on Ispot, we are currently trying to record the species of longhorns that occur in the southern African region
Regards
Riana
Thanks for your identifications. Mathias has never written us back to thank us for other identifications we have made for him.
Hi Mathias
could you please give a size (approx) of the first longhorn
the second longhorn is Titoceres jaspideus refer to http://www.ispotnature.org/node/624397
If possible, please post these two longhorns on Ispot, we are currently trying to record the species of longhorns that occur in the southern African region
Regards
Riana
the first longhorn in the first photo may be Pycnopsis brachyptera obsoleta Fahraeus, 1872 reference https://www.flickr.com/photos/coleoptera-us/3018625745/in/set-72157607363771409
I’ve managed to find out what it is, in case anyone else is interested: a pine sawyer beetle.
Thanks guys. That beetle must be quite the traveler as there are no Poinciana anywhere around here. Wonder if they use any other native as a host?
The link is to a pdf of a rather large work by Robert Raven from the University of Queensland reviewing Western Pacific Corrinidaes to which I contributed specimens and photographs. One of my pictures was used for the cover art so now you know someone that is a famous published nature photographer. 🙂 It won’t be much use to anyone except dedicated spider nuts as it is a very technical work rather than a general use type of thing.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z6zcivdts7x1r7m/Raven_2015_Corinnidae_Western%20Pacific.pdf?dl=0
Thanks guys. That beetle must be quite the traveler as there are no Poinciana anywhere around here. Wonder if they use any other native as a host?
The link is to a pdf of a rather large work by Robert Raven from the University of Queensland reviewing Western Pacific Corrinidaes to which I contributed specimens and photographs. One of my pictures was used for the cover art so now you know someone that is a famous published nature photographer. 🙂 It won’t be much use to anyone except dedicated spider nuts as it is a very technical work rather than a general use type of thing.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z6zcivdts7x1r7m/Raven_2015_Corinnidae_Western%20Pacific.pdf?dl=0
It is Ptinus sexpunctatus (European immigrant):
http://bugguide.net/node/view/107176
Thanks again Boris.