Calling all Asian longhorned beetle scouts

You’ve probably heard by now about the dreaded Asian longhorned beetle wreaking havoc – and forcing the cut down of some 25,000 trees in the Worcester area.

Female Asian longhorned beetle (Jennifer Forman Orth/Massachusetts DAR)

Now it’s your turn to make sure they don’t make it to Springfield or Boston by participating in a Springfield survey Monday or a Boston one Saturday, Nov. 14. Details below.

The invasive Asian longhorned beetles have no known predators in the United States and attack many kinds of hardwood trees, from maple to birch. First discovered in 1996 in Brooklyn, they have shown up in other parts of New York, as well as in Chicago and New Jersey. The Department of Agriculture estimates the beetle has the potential to cause $41 billion worth of damage to the nation’s lumber, maple syrup, nursery, and tourism industry.

The shiny black bug has irregular white spots, and has antennae at least as long as its 1- to 1 1/2-inch body. It kills a tree by essentially cutting off its circulation: The female beetle lays eggs in the bark and worm-like larvae then bore into the healthy tree, feeding on tissue during the fall and winter before emerging through bark holes.

Volunteers will be taught how to look for the beetles which means looking for tree damage.

Signs of an infestation include smooth, round, dime-sized holes left by adult beetles exiting a tree, sawdust-like material on the ground around the trunk or on tree limbs, and oozing sap. If an exit hole can be easily reached, try fitting the eraser end of a pencil into the hole. If it does not go straight in at least one inch deep, it was not caused by the Asian Longhorned Beetle. Also, the beetles leave exit holes spread out across a tree. A series of holes together in a line is often caused by woodpeckers or sapsuckers

So get on some walking shoes, bring some water and show up. Springfield volunteers should meet Monday November 9 from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Mom and Rico’s at 899 Main Street. Boston volunteers will meet on Saturday November 14 from 9 to 11 a.m. at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Arlington Street. Volunteers should look for survey leaders wearing ALB buttons and shirts.

“It was a private citizen who reported the state’s first Asian Longhorned Beetle in the Worcester area over a year ago, and we are counting on the public again to help us win the battle against this invasive pest,” said DAR Commissioner Scott Soares. “ALB still threaten forests, parks, nurseries and maple producers throughout the Commonwealth.”

To report suspicious tree damage, view photographs and videos of tree damage or read about the pests, visit http://massnrc.org/pests/alb or call the toll-free Asian longhorned beetle hotline at (866) 702-9938.

For more information about the eradication program, visit http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/alb/alb.shtml.