Managing the Spread of the Asian Longhorned Beetle

Asian Longhorned Beetle New York City Infestation

Traveling into the United States inside wood packing material from China, the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) is now infesting trees in the United States. Infestation occurs when the ALB tunnels into tree stems and branches to lay eggs. Larvae develop inside the tree and then bore their way outward creating large holes in the tree's heartwood and bark.

Repeated attacks lead to the dieback of the tree crown and eventually to the death of the tree. Currently the only effective means to eliminate the ALB is to remove infested trees and destroy them by chipping.

The first U.S. infestation was discovered in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, in August 1996. A second infestation was found in Bayside, Queens, in February 1999, and later that year in August, an ALB infestation was detected in Manhattan just four blocks from Central Park.

To date, more than 2,400 infested trees have been removed from public and private property. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is presently redrawing the ALB quarantine zones based on buffers generated in ArcView.