Livid_Liberal
08-15-2008, 09:11 PM
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Another beetle invasion
But this time, they don’t sing and no one is cheering their arrival
http://www.telegram.com/article/20080807/NEWS/808070774/1116
By Lee Hammel TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
lhammel@telegram.com
WORCESTER—
A foreign, invasive, boring insect that can be stopped by no chemical has been found in Worcester trees.
Common Name: Asian Longhorned Beetle
http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/PI/AsianLongHornedBeetle.jpg
For more information on the Asian Longhorned Beetle:
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Anoplophora%20glabripennis.html
Original Distribution: Eastern China in poplar plantations and other plantings
Current Distribution: it was first found infesting trees in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York in August 1996. It is believed that ALB entered the U.S. in wood pallets holding pipe shipped from China for a sewer project in the late 1980s. In September 1996 an infestation was also found in Amityville, NY, several miles east of the Greenpoint infestation. It is thought that this infestation occurred as a result of movement of infested wood from Greenpoint.
City Manager Michael V. O’Brien and 17 state, federal and city officials held a press conference yesterday to announce that the Asian longhorned beetle has been found in the Kendrick Field section of Worcester over the weekend. He announced a kind of martial law for trees within a 1.5-mile radius of the intersection of West Boylston St. and Whitmarsh Avenue.
Initially Mr. O’Brien said that no tree, branch or limb will be allowed to be removed from that section of the city until after the first frost. Subsequently, Christine Markham, a federal official, said that landscapers and nursery workers and others will be instructed on acceptable procedures for removing at least non-infected trees.
When infected trees are found, the only way of disposing of them is grinding them or burning them, the city manager said.
Mr. O’Brien said that Worcester, MA. is only the fourth area in the country whose trees have been attacked by the beetle. The secretary of agriculture declared a state of emergency in 1998 after the beetle was found in Chicago to give the department the powers it needs to deal with the threat quickly, said Ms. Markham, program director for the national Asian longhorned beetle program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
State and federal workers will remove any infested trees, whether on public or private land, once the first frost has killed the beetles, Mr. O’Brien said. The trees will be replaced at no cost to the owner, Mr. O’Brien said, citing experience in other areas.
His office was in contact with Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray, U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, and other state and federal officials yesterday to talk about coordinating efforts and who will pay for them.
The trees must be removed because there is no chemical way to eradicate them, Ms. Markham said. Six days after the beetle was reported to authorities by a Whitmarsh Avenue woman who discovered them in her tree, Ms. Markham said Worcester’s infestation most closely resembles that of Chicago.
In Chicago, 1,700 trees had to be removed to contain the threat. In New York City and surrounding areas, 6,200 trees have been removed so far, but the beetle was there for years before the threat was recognized, she said.
Ms. Markham said the longhorned beetle is not a threat to humans, either through attacking them or carrying human disease. But she said if anyone tries to pick one up, they should be wary of the pincers.
The shiny black beetle is 1 to 1-1/2 inches long, with white spots on its body and its long antennae.
Mr. O’Brien stressed the need for the public’s cooperation in reporting the presence of the beetles or the holes they bore in trees to insert their young. The beetles can be reported by calling the city’s Department of Public Works at (508) 929-1300 or going to a state Web site at www.massnrc.org/pests.
The city manager said meetings will be held with residents of the area to keep them informed and seek their cooperation, which he said is the best way to limit the damage.
The beetle prefers maple, boxelder, horse chestnuts, birch, willow and elm trees. It also infests mimosa, ash, London plane, poplar, and European mountain ash.
A mature tree can last as long as 6 or 7 years before succumbing to the beetle. The Department of Agriculture declared a state of emergency because if the beetle were to expand from quarantined areas “it has the potential to wreak havoc nationwide, affecting such industries as lumber, maple syrup, nursery and tourism and [cause] more than $41 billion in losses.”
The beetle has been found locally in only “a handful of trees,” perhaps a dozen, Ms. Markham said, but officials have had little chance to engage in the street-by-street survey that will involve binoculars and even climbing trees to identify infestations.
The beetle has been found and eradicated in Chicago and one area of New Jersey, while the battle against it continues in the New York City area and another part of New Jersey. The beetle, native to China, first showed up in the United States in Brooklyn in 1996, where it was thought to have arrived with poplar shipping crates.
Officials said they did not know how it arrived in Worcester, or when, but scientists may be able to narrow that down from inspecting tree damage.
Trees in the area will be sprayed with Merit (imidaclopirid) each spring for three years to prevent further infestation. The beetle is considered eradicated after four years of testing shows no beetles.
The beetle tends to stay on the tree where it was born, although it is capable of flying 1 1/2 miles, Ms. Markham said.
District 1 Councilor Joffrey A. Smith said he is concerned that all trees removed get replaced.
http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk/bugs/wanted3.gif
Another beetle invasion
But this time, they don’t sing and no one is cheering their arrival
http://www.telegram.com/article/20080807/NEWS/808070774/1116
By Lee Hammel TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
lhammel@telegram.com
WORCESTER—
A foreign, invasive, boring insect that can be stopped by no chemical has been found in Worcester trees.
Common Name: Asian Longhorned Beetle
http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/PI/AsianLongHornedBeetle.jpg
For more information on the Asian Longhorned Beetle:
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Anoplophora%20glabripennis.html
Original Distribution: Eastern China in poplar plantations and other plantings
Current Distribution: it was first found infesting trees in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York in August 1996. It is believed that ALB entered the U.S. in wood pallets holding pipe shipped from China for a sewer project in the late 1980s. In September 1996 an infestation was also found in Amityville, NY, several miles east of the Greenpoint infestation. It is thought that this infestation occurred as a result of movement of infested wood from Greenpoint.
City Manager Michael V. O’Brien and 17 state, federal and city officials held a press conference yesterday to announce that the Asian longhorned beetle has been found in the Kendrick Field section of Worcester over the weekend. He announced a kind of martial law for trees within a 1.5-mile radius of the intersection of West Boylston St. and Whitmarsh Avenue.
Initially Mr. O’Brien said that no tree, branch or limb will be allowed to be removed from that section of the city until after the first frost. Subsequently, Christine Markham, a federal official, said that landscapers and nursery workers and others will be instructed on acceptable procedures for removing at least non-infected trees.
When infected trees are found, the only way of disposing of them is grinding them or burning them, the city manager said.
Mr. O’Brien said that Worcester, MA. is only the fourth area in the country whose trees have been attacked by the beetle. The secretary of agriculture declared a state of emergency in 1998 after the beetle was found in Chicago to give the department the powers it needs to deal with the threat quickly, said Ms. Markham, program director for the national Asian longhorned beetle program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
State and federal workers will remove any infested trees, whether on public or private land, once the first frost has killed the beetles, Mr. O’Brien said. The trees will be replaced at no cost to the owner, Mr. O’Brien said, citing experience in other areas.
His office was in contact with Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray, U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, and other state and federal officials yesterday to talk about coordinating efforts and who will pay for them.
The trees must be removed because there is no chemical way to eradicate them, Ms. Markham said. Six days after the beetle was reported to authorities by a Whitmarsh Avenue woman who discovered them in her tree, Ms. Markham said Worcester’s infestation most closely resembles that of Chicago.
In Chicago, 1,700 trees had to be removed to contain the threat. In New York City and surrounding areas, 6,200 trees have been removed so far, but the beetle was there for years before the threat was recognized, she said.
Ms. Markham said the longhorned beetle is not a threat to humans, either through attacking them or carrying human disease. But she said if anyone tries to pick one up, they should be wary of the pincers.
The shiny black beetle is 1 to 1-1/2 inches long, with white spots on its body and its long antennae.
Mr. O’Brien stressed the need for the public’s cooperation in reporting the presence of the beetles or the holes they bore in trees to insert their young. The beetles can be reported by calling the city’s Department of Public Works at (508) 929-1300 or going to a state Web site at www.massnrc.org/pests.
The city manager said meetings will be held with residents of the area to keep them informed and seek their cooperation, which he said is the best way to limit the damage.
The beetle prefers maple, boxelder, horse chestnuts, birch, willow and elm trees. It also infests mimosa, ash, London plane, poplar, and European mountain ash.
A mature tree can last as long as 6 or 7 years before succumbing to the beetle. The Department of Agriculture declared a state of emergency because if the beetle were to expand from quarantined areas “it has the potential to wreak havoc nationwide, affecting such industries as lumber, maple syrup, nursery and tourism and [cause] more than $41 billion in losses.”
The beetle has been found locally in only “a handful of trees,” perhaps a dozen, Ms. Markham said, but officials have had little chance to engage in the street-by-street survey that will involve binoculars and even climbing trees to identify infestations.
The beetle has been found and eradicated in Chicago and one area of New Jersey, while the battle against it continues in the New York City area and another part of New Jersey. The beetle, native to China, first showed up in the United States in Brooklyn in 1996, where it was thought to have arrived with poplar shipping crates.
Officials said they did not know how it arrived in Worcester, or when, but scientists may be able to narrow that down from inspecting tree damage.
Trees in the area will be sprayed with Merit (imidaclopirid) each spring for three years to prevent further infestation. The beetle is considered eradicated after four years of testing shows no beetles.
The beetle tends to stay on the tree where it was born, although it is capable of flying 1 1/2 miles, Ms. Markham said.
District 1 Councilor Joffrey A. Smith said he is concerned that all trees removed get replaced.
http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk/bugs/wanted3.gif