Invasive beetle may have been in Mass. since '97

WORCESTER, Mass.—A tree-destroying beetle that was discovered in Worcester early this month may have been in the city at least five years earlier than federal officials estimated.

A local pest control owner, Geoff Ford, says a sample of the Asian longhorned beetle has been in his insect collection since 1997, when someone brought it to him to identify.

Federal officials estimated the beetle was in Worcester since 2002 after a scientist examined what appeared to be the most infested tree.

If the beetle was in the city five years earlier, the infestation could be further along than thought.

Ford's sample looks like the shiny black beetle, which is native to China.

But the U.S. Department of Agriculture won't confirm it's the Asian beetle until it's tested in a Maryland lab. That's expected to happen within a week.

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Information from: Telegram & Gazette, http://www.telegram.com