Learn to Identify the Asian Longhorned Beetle

Almost one year ago, a larva of one of these exotic bugs appeared in some Cranston cordwood shipped from Worcester, Massachusetts. Worcester has long since been under quarantine to keep these pests from spreading to other parts of the region, and the Cranston larva almost got away.

Meet the Asian Longhorned Beetle. They bore into trees and eventually kill them. Their favorites are maples, birch and horse chestnut, but they’re not too picky. Worcester had to destroy over 20,000 trees as a result of the infestation.

The beetles don’t travel far on their own, but they do get around when they burrow into the wood of shipping containers bound for the US from Asia or if they catch a ride on cordwood cut and transported from infested forest. Rhode Island is susceptible on both fronts.

Colin M.J. Novick, executive director of the Greater Worcester Land Trust, told the Worcester-Telegram “The faster you realize you have the beetle and recognize the signs, the better.” Worcester’s infestation had been underway for 10 years before the beetle was identified.

Rhode Island foresters are counting on residents to look for signs the pest before the damage can be done.

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