Michigan: Check trees in August for signs of the Asian longhorned beetle
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Contact: Rob Miller, 517-614-0454 or Joanne Foreman, 517-284-5814

Aug. 3, 2020

This year, many Michiganders have found time to reacquaint themselves with the outdoors. Whether you spend time walking, hiking or exploring neighborhood parks, you can help protect Michigan's trees by spending a little of your outdoors time checking for signs of the Asian longhorned beetle.


August is Tree Check Month, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture is asking the public to look for and report any signs of this invasive pest that's not native to Michigan and could cause harm to our environment and economy.

In late summer and early fall, adult Asian longhorned beetles drill perfectly round, 3/8-inch holes to emerge from within tree trunks and limbs, where they spend their larval stage chewing through the heartwood. After a brief mating period, female beetles chew oval depressions in trunks or branches to deposit eggs. Sometimes a material resembling wood shavings can be seen at or below exit holes or coming from cracks in an infested tree's bark.


Asian longhorned beetle in the U.S.

The Asian longhorned beetle was first detected in the U.S. in 1996, when a Brooklyn, New York resident noticed a large, black beetle with irregular white spots and black-and-white banded antennae and reported it. Since that time, the Asian longhorned beetle has been found in 20 locations in six states, including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Ohio and, most recently, South Carolina.

"ALB likely arrived hidden in untreated wood packaging material like pallets and crates from China or Korea, before we had international standards for treating this material to prevent the spread of insects," said USDA's Asian longhorned beetle national policy manager Paul Chaloux. "The beetle feeds on numerous hardwood species, especially maple, but also ash, birch, elm, poplar and willow, among others."

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To date, USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has been successful in eradicating the beetle from all but four locations in the U.S. However, eradication has both financial and environmental costs. According to the USDA, over $750 million has been spent on the Asian longhorned beetle eradication program in the last 22 years, and at least 180,000 trees have been removed from infested neighborhoods and counties.


You can help

The beetle has not been detected in Michigan, but discovering early signs of infestation can prevent widespread damage to the state's forest resources, urban landscapes and maple syrup production.

"Public participation is the key to early detection," said Rob Miller, invasive species prevention and response specialist with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. "Every known infestation of Asian longhorned beetle in the U.S. was discovered and reported by a member of the public who knew what to look for and how to report it."


Look for signs

Whenever you are outdoors this month, take time to look at the trees around you for signs of the Asian longhorned beetle, including:
  • Round exit holes about the diameter of a pencil found in tree trunks and branches.
  • Shallow oval or round scars in the bark where the adult beetle chewed an egg site.
  • Material that looks like wood shavings lying on the ground around the tree or in the branches.
  • Dead branches or limbs falling from an otherwise healthy-looking tree.

Look for the beetle

Adult Asian longhorned beetles are distinctively large, ranging from 3/4 to 1 1/2 inches in length, not including their long antennae. The beetles are shiny black, with random white blotches or spots, and their antennae have alternating black and white segments. They have six legs that can be black or partly blue, with blue coloration sometimes extending to their feet.

Be aware of look-alikes

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Several beetles and bugs native to Michigan often are mistaken for the Asian longhorned beetle.
  • The white-spotted pine sawyer has a distinctive white spot below the base of its head – between its wings – and is brownish in color.
  • The cottonwood borer is about the same size as the Asian longhorned beetle and is also black and white, but has a pattern of single, broad black stripes down each wing, and its antennae are all dark.
  • The northeastern pine sawyer reaches up to 2 inches in length, has very long antennae and is gray in color.
  • The eastern eyed click beetle has distinctive eye circles on the back of its head. It rolls over when threatened, then clicks and makes a flipping movement to get back on its feet.

Anyone observing an Asian longhorned beetle, or a tree that appears to have been damaged by it, is asked to report it. If possible, capture the beetle in a jar, take photos, record the location and report it as soon as possible at AsianLonghornedBeetle.com or contact MDARD at 800-292-3939 or MDA-info@Michigan.gov.

More information can be found at Michigan.gov/ALB.

Michigan's Invasive Species Program is cooperatively implemented by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Department of Agriculture & Rural Development.

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