asian+long-horned+beetle

Kristin Ehrhardt Mr. Hakim Ecology 13 December, 2009 Asian Long-Horned Beetle **General Information** The Asian Long-Horned Beetle is also called the starry sky beetle. Its scientific name is Anoplophora glabripennis. A fully grown adult beetle will grow to be about 0.75- 1.50 inches in length. They have glossy black bodies with irregular white stripes and long black and white banded antennae. These bugs are native to Asia and China as well as other areas of the Far East. In 1996, they were accidentally introduced to the U.S. by being transported through cargo from Asia to the U.S.

**Detailed Description** The beetles start out as eggs, of course. These eggs are laid singly within the host tree's bark; they take about a week or two to hatch. They are born as larvae. The larvae tunnel into the vascular tissue of the tree and slowly migrate into the wood as they mature, causing extensive damage. They stay larvae for about 3 months. After the larvae stage they become a pupa. They then move under the bark to the surface of the tree to pupate. They emerge as an adult in about 18 days. When they become an adult they actively mate and lay eggs through the summer and fall. Asian Long-horned Beetles feed on wood of hardwood species, including birche, horsechestnut, elm, hackberrie, london planes, mountain ashe, poplar, aspen, willow, and they show a particular liking for maples. The larvae feed on phloem tissue and wood from the trees while adults feed on bark during the mating and egg-laying period. **Habitat/Distrbution** The ALB is an invasive species in North America. It is a serious threat to many species of trees such as maple, horse chestnut, poplar, willow, birch, London plane, mountain ash, mimosa, elm, and hackberry. These beetles feed on most species of hardwood trees, along with some others. Adult beetles are seen from late spring to fall, depending on the climate. The beetle was introduced from China and other Asian countries accidentally by cargo, and it is now currently limited to areas within Chicago and New York. During the beetle’s larval stage, they bore deep into a tree's heartwood and feed on the tree's nutrients. The tunneling damages and eventually kills the tree. The ALB can fly for distances of 400 yards or more in search of a host tree. They usually tend to lay eggs in the same trees from where they emerged as adults. During summer months, mated adult ALB female chews 35 to 90 individual pits into the host tree's bark and lays an egg in each of the pits that it forms. The eggs take about 10-15 days to hatch and the white, caterpillar-like larvae tunnel into the tree's phloem and cambium layer. Over the next few weeks, the larvae tunnel deeper and deeper into the tree's heartwood where they mature into pupae. The pupae then hatch into adults inside the tree over the winter months. After it hatches into a full-grown adult, they then chew their way out of the tree the next spring and summer. In the process, they leave perfectly round exit holes that are approximately 1 cm in diameter. Some signs of an Asian Long-horned Beetle infestation are perfectly rounded 2 cm exit holes with frass, a sawdust-like material made up of tree shavings and insect waste, and the holes in the tree will be oozing sap. Other ways to tell if there was an infestation of these beetles is the dead or dying of tree limbs or branches and the yellowing of leaves when there has been no drought. USDA indicates that Asian Long-horned beetles can survive and reproduce in almost all sections of the country, in suitable hosting trees of course. Research data from nine U.S. cities along with national tree cover data were used to estimate potential effects of the Asian long-horned beetle on the urban forest resources. For the cities that were analyzed, the potential tree resources at risk to Asian long-horned beetle attack ranges from 12-61% of the city tree population, with an estimated value of $72 million - $2.3 billion of damage per city. The corresponding canopy cover loss that would occur if all preferred host trees were killed ranges from 13-68%. The estimated potential national urban forest impact of the Asian long-horned beetle is a loss of 34.9% of the total canopy cover, 30.3% of tree mortality (1.2 billion trees) and a value loss of up to $669 billion.
 * Impacts**

Unfortunately at this point in time there are no certain methods developed to prevent or control the Asian long-horned beetle from spreading. If the presence of ALB is detected, the only thing that will help is to contact local forestry officials. They can take proper steps to contain the outbreak. The only way currently known to somewhat control these outbreaks of the Asian Long-horned Beetle is to destroy the infested trees. Even though cutting down mature trees is not permitted, it is preferable over having the Asian longhorned beetle spread all over the United States.    
 * Control Measures**