Washington Forest Health Issues in 2003

Citrus Long-horned Beetle

The Citrus Long-horned beetle is a wood boring insect native to Asia where it is a major pest. It is a close relative of the Asian Long-horned beetle which is having a huge impact in New York,Chicago and most recently Jersey City.

This exotic invader was found in two different locations in Washington in 2001. In Tukwila, where some beetles were actually seen escaping into the surrounding greenbelt, a massive tree removal, inspection, quarantine program was initiated.

More than 20,000 trees were inspected in 2003 for signs of the woodboring pest with completely negative results so far! Monitoring efforts and other precautions are still ongoing. If this wood-boring pest were to become established here with no natural controls such as predators, parasites or diseases, many hardwood trees such as bigleaf maple, cottonwood and horse chestnut would be damaged.

Additional Information