Asian Longhorned Beetle

** Visit the Massachusetts Asian Longhorned Beetle Eradication Program website **

(Click on an image below to see the captioned full-size version)
Figure 1		Figure 2		Figure 3		Figure 4		Figure 5		Figure 6

Scientific Name: Anoplophora glabripennis
Common Names: Asian Longhorned Beetle, Asian Longhorn Beetle, Starry Sky Beetle

Host plants:
The following tree species are considered to be good hosts for the Asian longhorned beetle:

Other susceptible trees include: Ash (Fraxinus, especially green ash, F. pennsylvanica), Silk tree (Albizia), Hackberry (Celtis), Mountain-ash (Sorbus), and Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum). A complete list of host species is available from USDA APHIS-PPQ.

Key ID Features:
	The Asian longhorneed beetle is 0.75" - 1.5" long with antennae that are 1 to 2 times its body length.
	Adults are shiny black with irregular white spots. (Figures 1, 2)
	Antennae have alternating black and white bands.
	Feet and antennae may have a bluish tinge.
	Adults are active from early summer through mid-fall.
	Adult females dig bowl-shaped holes in the bark, typically about 1/2 inch (15mm) in diameter, to bury their eggs in. These "oviposition pits" often appear orange in color.
	Larvae can grow to be 2.4 inches long (60mm), with many-segmented, off-white bodies and brown mouthparts. They burrow beneath the bark and are rarely seen. (Figure 6)
	"Frass" or sawdust/wood shavings may be apparent around the base of infested trees. Severely impacted tree may have exposed wood where larval feeding galleries (tunneling) is visible.

Description of damage:
	Larvae damage the tree by eating away at the outer sapwood, beneath the bark layer, creating hollowed out galleries in the wood.
	Females chew dime-sized oval grooves in the bark to deposit their eggs. (Figure 3)
	Exit holes 3/8” or larger in diameter (6-14mm) appear wherever adults have bored out of the tree. (Figure 4)
	Sawdust may appear on the ground or on tree branches where adults have exited from the tree. (Figure 5)
	Wounds caused by the beetles may ooze sap.

Similar species:
The native whitespotted pine sawyer (Monochamus scutellatus) is also large and black but has less distinct white patches on the wing covers, no bluish tinge on the legs or antennae, and a dinstinctive white spot between the wing covers (Figure 2).

• USDA Forest Service: Asian Longhorned Beetle Identify and Report
  http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/alb/ident_reporting/identifying.shtm
• University of Vermont: Asian Longhorned Beetle Identification
  http://www.uvm.edu/albeetle/identification/index.html

Fact sheets and references:
USDA Forest Service Asian Longhorned Beetle homepage
Contains up-to-date information on the battle against ALB in the U.S.
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/alb/index.shtm

USDA APHIS Pest Detection and Management Programs
Source for information on government regulations and actions to control ALB
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/asian_lhb/index.shtml

Detecting signs and symptoms of Asian longhorned beetle injury: Training guide.
Natural Resources Canada, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Sault St. Marie, Ontario, Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Excellent resource for the identification and biology of the Asian longhorned beetle.
http://warehouse.pfc.forestry.ca/glfc/26860.pdf

University of Vermont Entomology Research Laboratory
Information about research and management of this species.
http://www.uvm.edu/albeetle/index.html

Asian Longhorned Beetle in Canada: Canadian Food Inspection Agency
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/pestrava/anogla/asialonge.shtml

UMass Extension Asian Longhorned Beetle Fact Sheet
http://www.umassgreeninfo.org/fact_sheets/wood_attackers/asian_longhorned_beetle.html

Cornell University ALB Diagnostic Web Site
http://www.entomology.cornell.edu/Extension/Woodys/ALB_Mahaffey/ALBHomepage.html

EPPO (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization)
Data Sheets on Quarantine Pest: Anoplophora glabripennis
http://www.eppo.org/QUARANTINE/insects/Anoplophora_glabripennis/ANOLGL_ds.pdf

Exotic Forest Pest Information System for North America
Cavey, JF. 2000. Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky)
http://spfnic.fs.fed.us/exfor/data/pestreports.cfm?pestidval=53&langdisplay=english

National Park Service Pest Alert, Firewood: Threat from Invasive Beetles
Information about quarantine regulations affecting firewood movement
http://massnrc.org/pests/linkeddocuments/USDAfirewoodpestalert.pdf

last reviewed August 5, 2008