This invasive SC pest may be obliterating your trees right now, USDA says. How to check
The war against the Asian longhorned beetle has begun anew in South Carolina.
The Asian longhorned beetle is an invasive pest that has been devastating trees in the Palmetto State in recent years. August is the best time to hunt the little critters since it’s when people are most likely to see adult beetles, so the U.S. Department of Agriculture is encouraging residents to help identify and eradicate them from South Carolina this month.
According to the USDA, residents in South Carolina, particularly those in Charleston and Dorchester counties, should check their trees for Asian longhorned beetles and the damage they cause.
“You can help us protect more trees and eliminate the beetle from the United States. If you take a walk, take a look,” Josie Ryan, APHIS’ National Operations Manager for the ALB Eradication Program, said in a recent USDA press release. “The sooner we spot the beetle, the sooner we can help stop its spread.”
The Asian longhorned beetle is a wood-boring insect that attacks 12 types of hardwood trees in North America, including maples, elms, buckeyes, birches and willows. Infested trees do not recover and eventually die.
In its larval stage, the beetle feeds inside tree trucks and branches, creating tunnels. Adults later chew their way out in the warmer months, leaving small round exit holes.
How to identify adult Asian longhorned beetles
- A shiny black body with white spots that is about 1 inch to 1.5 inches long
- Black and white antennae that are longer than the insect’s body
- Six legs and feet that can appear bluish in color
Signs a SC tree might be infested
- Round exit holes in tree trunks and branches about the size of a dime or smaller
- Egg sites that are shallow, oval or round wounds in the bark where sap might weep
- Sawdust-like material called frass found on the ground around the tree or on the branches
- Branches or limbs falling from an otherwise healthy-looking tree
How you can help
- If you think you found a beetle or tree damage, report it by calling the ALB hotline at 1-866-702-9938 or submitting an online report at www.AsianLonghornedBeetle.com. Try to photograph the ALB or tree damage. If you can, capture the beetle in a durable container and freeze it, which helps preserve the insect for identification. Then report it.
- If you live in an Asian longhorned beetle quarantine area, please keep the tree-killing pest from spreading. Follow state and federal laws, which restrict the movement of woody material and untreated firewood that could be infested.
- It is possible to eradicate the beetle. USDA and its partners eradicated the insect from Illinois, Boston, Massachusetts, New Jersey and portions of New York and Ohio.
- For more information about the the beetle and the eradication efforts, visit www.AsianLonghornedBeetle.com. For local inquiries or to speak to your USDA State Plant Health Director, call 1-866-702-9938.
