THESE BEETLES ARE BLACK, WHITE, AND BAD ALL OVER

(Female (left) and Male (right) Asian Longhorned Beetle. Images from UVM)

It is amazing that sometimes the tiniest and most unsuspecting of creatures can prove the most dangerous.

The Asian Longhorned Beetle (or ALB, as it has been dubbed) is a small and particularly beautifully colored beetle, 1 to 1.5 inches in length, covered in a glistening black shell speckled with flecks of white, and hailing from China. If I saw a beetle like this hanging around my yard and didn't know better, I would ooh and aw at what an interesting specimen I had uncovered, marvel at the insects of the world, and let it go back to its labors.

But ALB has been causing a stir this side of the globe for some fourteen years now, and its radius of fear and paranoia only increases. It has been found in New York, New Jersey, Chicago IL, Tornoto Candada, and - most recently - Worcester, MA. ALB is a pest to our trees in a very large way: they target maple, birch, horse chestnut, poplar, willow, elm, and ash trees, and there are no good ways of dealing with them. All it takes is one tiny little beetle to kill a tree - and one tiny little beetle has the power to turn into hundreds and hundreds. These beetles breed a lot faster than our trees: if they are not dealt with they have the potential to eliminate these species completely.

ALB is a lot scarier than other pests. Right now, ALB is a big deal.

NICE TO MEET YOU, MR. BEETLE

ALB is found predominantly in China, as well as in parts of Japan and Korea. It originally made its way to the States probably while riding on solid wood packing material exported overseas. It was first discovered in Brooklyn, New York in 1996 and more continue to be found to this day.

Since then, changes have been made deliberately to the process of exportation of wood. In 1998, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a ruling that all imported wood packing from China be bark and insect free, and that it be treated with preservatives, heat, or fumigation to ensure the death of any possible pests before it ever found its way to United States soil. In 2005, this rule was essentially expanded to include all other countries as well as China.

Little did they know. The men from China, the men from the US, or the beetles themselves as they clung tightly to their wood, riding uncertainly to unknown lands. Fate was taking the beetles to a perfect home - where their favorite types of trees would be plentiful. Fate was giving them heaven, and Fate was giving us hell.

Little did they know.

WHY WE SHOULD CARE

ALB will find a tree, one from the aforementioned list, and burrow deep within. The beetle will then lay its eggs within the bowels of the tree. Eventually, the eggs will hatch, and the baby beetles will burrow out and feast upon its leaves. By this point, the tree is already doomed. The burrowing of the beetles effectively cuts it up inside and strangles it. From there, the beetles will spread, find new trees, and, again, lay their eggs.

Perhaps this sounds like standard fare for a pest. What sets this particular beetle apart and makes it so much worse? Well, first and foremost there is the sheer number of different species that it will destroy, all of them quite common in the United States. Secondly, there is presently no good way of dealing with them. And third, it takes a mind-boggling amount of time and effort to inspect a tree and conclude safely whether it is or is not infested.

The best way to understand the threat here is this: it has taken how many years for the process of evolution on Earth to produce our forests?

Now, consider: within the course of a single lifetime, this insect can wipe out all the maple, birch, horse chestnut, poplar, willow, elm, and ash trees we have here. In a single lifetime.

Certain areas have already lost trees to pests or more: elm trees, chestnut trees. The ecosystem is in a delicate balance. Now, with the unnatural introduction of this beetle, and with no natural way of compensating for it, that balance is on the verge of being torn into shreds.

A CURE AS BAD AS ITS KILLER

ALB females lay one egg a day, every day, from as early as the beginning of June until the first killing frost, generally October but potentially as late as November. The eggs will grow during the winter. Unfortunately, the eggs are deep within the tree, which is made up mostly of dead cellulose. That means that any inserted pesticide will not reach them unless aimed directly at them. Furthermore, insecticides will do no good during the winter season, during which time trees are dormant: during this time their inner juices are not flowing, so the insecticide will not spread.

By the time the tree is out of its "hibernation," when chemicals might have a chance of reaching its leaves and poisoning the pests, it is already too late: the tree has already been doomed for death.

In other words, once these beetles are in, it is impossible to defeat them through pesticide.

The only way we have right now of dealing with infested trees is to destroy them utterly - burn them, or chew them up into pieces. Our best effort at a cure is as devastating as the disease itself.

Presently, there are efforts of using pesticides on host trees neighboring those infested, whereas in the past these trees were also simply torn down. The process is proving challenging. It is unknown how large the dosage should be, it is unknown what stage the eggs are at during any given point in time, and it is unknown how long insecticide injections will remain effective. There are a host of questions surrounding this insect. For instance, we do not know what actually triggers the insects to switch trees while laying eggs. Tests are underway; hopefully answers will emerge. Until they do, we are reduced to bludgeoning our elusive foes to death like cavemen, and destroying the trees along with them.

Action is being taken. Quarantine zones have been established around all infested sites, with strict rules in place on the movement of wood in or out. Trees are being removed, inspected, and new trees are being replanted to replace those destroyed - oaks, beech, and linden mostly, replacement trees that are invulnerable to ALB. All of this is being carried out under the federal government.

The Animal Plant Health Inspection Service has the plans of checking every tree within quarantine zones for signs of the beetle, and even trees outside of the zones. This process is indescribably time consuming. The most clear indicator of ALB is a perfectly round hole, three-eighths of an inch in diameter (roughly the size of a dime), where the beetle has tunneled in. Unfortunately, these holes could be anywhere on the tree: they could be found anywhere on its trunk, on any side of any one of its branches.

ON THE MOVE

The beetle infestation is officially under control in New Jersey, but not eradicated - and it has taken ten years of work for New Jersey to get them simply "under control." An area will only be considered for the decision or eradication after four years with absolutely no sign of the pest.

Some in the industry say that the goal of eradication will never be reached.

Indeed, it looks grim. In Worcester, the most recent site of infestation, beetles continue to be discovered, within quarantine zones and outside of them, every single day. Most recently, a small pocket of infested trees was discovered in West Boylston, MA. Insects have also been found in Holden, MA. The city of Worcester itself is the epicenter of the quarantine zones - including every tree within a seventy mile radius. It is believed the insects were in Worcester for five years before they were discovered. Consider all the infested wood that could have been shipped in that time...

In Massachusetts alone, a total of over 15,000 trees have been removed, and over 500 have been replanted. These numbers have not stopped growing.

WHAT WE CAN DO

The concerned public can literally be the eyes. Anyone near the infested areas can keep an eye out, for the beetle itself and for the warning signs that it may be at work: rice-sized scratches on the bark of the trees that indicate that eggs have been laid within, and the tell-tale dime-sized holes that indicate burrowing. Other signs of distress upon the tree include unusually oozing sap, unusual sawdust around the base of the tree, and dead leaves.

If you see a beetle that looks like ALB, do not try to catch it; it is entirely possible you will risk letting it escape. Instead, the best course of action is to contact the experts, who will come in, determine if it is in fact ALB, and determine what to do. You can report the beetle online here. In the same site there is information of what number to call, depending upon state.

Do not try to deal with it yourself: let the experts handle it! It may not seem like much, but if everyone keeps this beetle in mind and keeps an eye out, it will mean a lot. If these beetles were spotted earlier, we may not be in such a mess now - if the public can watch out and report any sightings, at least the situation may be treatable before it gets worse.

It's a serious situation; these little beetles have already destroyed an awful lot of trees, and if they spread we may find some of our most common and beloved trees wiped out for good. Keep an eye out, and maybe, eventually, the balance of our ecosystems can be restored.