FOR RELEASE: Aug. 5, 1997
Contact: Blaine P. Friedlander, Jr.
Office: (607) 255-3290
Internet: [email protected]
Compuserve: Larry Bernard 72650,565
http://www.news.cornell.edu
AMITYVILLE, N.Y. -- A Cornell University entomologist has confirmed the
summer's first adult Asian long-horned beetles have emerged from their
larval stage, and several have been found in hardwood trees in Amityville.
The beetle attacks and kills hardwoods like the Norway maple.
"We were hoping that we wouldn't find it, but we figured we'd probably find
it and we did," said E. Richard Hoebeke, Cornell entomologist and associate
curator of the Cornell Insect Collection. Hoebeke (pronounced HO-beck)
expected the beetles to emerge from the hardwood trees much earlier than
now. When found, the tree must be immediately destroyed because there is
no known pesticide. "I don't know why they came out so late this year, but
now we know to expect them in late July."
The Asian long-horned beetle, scientifically known as Anoplophora
glabripennis, was originally discovered last year in Brooklyn, N.Y., and
first identified by Hoebeke late last summer. Since then, federal, state
and local officials have been keeping close watch on the Asian long-horned
beetle invasion.
Last summer, authorities believed that the half-inch, circular holes found
in some Brooklyn trees were being drilled by merry pranksters. Instead,
adult Asian long-horned beetles were emerging from the heartwood center of
the trees -- boring exit holes through the outer bark.
The beetle measures about 1.5-inches long and has coal-black wing covers
sprinkled with startling white spots. The beetle's black-and-white
antennae are long and impressive. While vascularly devastating to hardwood
trees, the beetle is not harmful to humans. To help people identify it,
the U.S. Forestry Service has pinned up "wanted posters" printed on Tyvek
paper, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture has printed door-hangers
for the area.
Joe Cavey, an entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), based in Riverdale, Md., said
that in the past week as many as 15 hardwood trees have been removed in the
Amityville area.
"Although we do not have a pheromone trap yet, what is making our job
easier to find these beetles is the amount of publicity this beetle is
getting. They are showy, obvious beetles," Cavey said.
In the past year, USDA/APHIS inspectors have intercepted the beetle at
ports on the West and East Coasts.
Last week, port inspectors with the USDA/APHIS were put on a beetle-watch
alert. Inspectors, who typically watch a percentage of the heavy cargo
coming in from Asia, now inspect all heavy cargo imported from there.
This is the perfect time for heavy-duty inspections, according to Hoebeke,
as the beetles emerge now as adults and are ready to reproduce.
After beetle emergence, mating occurs, and eggs are laid in cavities in the
hardwood bark and covered with a cement secretion. Eggs hatch, and young
larvae bore into the inner bark, feed for a while and, upon growing larger,
bore into the tree's heartwood and pupate in the spring. The adult beetle
then chews its way out during this time of year, thus leaving the hole.
While USDA inspectors watch the ports, agriculture and forestry officials
are combing eastern Long Island, northern New Jersey, southeastern New York
state, and southern Connecticut for any signs of the beetles. Parts of
Brooklyn, and Amityville already have been quarantined by federal and state
officials, which means that cut hardwood cannot be taken out of the area.
Thankfully, the beetle has a low dispersal rate, Cavey said. "It doesn't
even fly a mile from its source," he said. "If we keep up our efforts,
we'll have a good shot at containing it. It's the best shot at eradicating
anything like this in my 21 years of service."
Hoebeke and Cavey are currently preparing a detailed description and
diagnosis of the larval stage of the Asian long-horned beetle for an
upcoming issue of The Coleopterists Bulletin .
While the New York invasion poses a possible threat to the maple industry
and the autumn-foliage tourism industry, Hoebeke noted that the Pacific
Northwest has an obvious, vested interest in the wood industry, as well.
"If we are importing products from China or Asia and those products come
shipped with wood -- such as crates, blocking, pallets, even large spools
for wire -- we've got to be concerned," said Hoebeke. "This really should
become a national concern."
-30-
RSS