The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) is taking no chances with a small, six-legged pest: the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB).
The black-bodied, white-spotted beetle is diminutive - one and a half inches long at most - but the discovery of one of the beetles in a warehouse in Mason, Ohio, has prompted what will be a multi-month search of more than 800 sq. miles of trees around Mason.
An infestation of the ALB can lead to the destruction of tens of thousands of trees in a given area and can take years to eradicate. Unlike other pests, like the Emerald Ash Borer, the ALB can infest a wide variety of tree species, including ash, birch, elm, maple, poplar and willow trees.
ODA Spokesperson Cindy Kalis said the search for the bug will take place between December 2009 and February 2010, when the telltale signs of the ALB will be easier to spot.
"We are going to send about six of our surveyors out to survey an area with a 16-mile radius around Mason," Kalis said. "We want to send them out during the winter, when the leaves are off the trees, and visually inspect the trees to see if this beetle is actually present in the area."
Kalis said the survey will be undertaken in conjunction with entomologists and master gardeners from Ohio State University.
"OSU is a land grant university, so we often partner with them and rely on their expertise," Kalis said.
The beetle that prompted the survey was discovered in June, at the Downlite warehouse on Duke Boulevard in Mason. Kalis said another ALB was found by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a Cincinnati warehouse 2007.
According to USDA spokesperson Rhonda Santos, a survey following the 2007 sighting discovered no infestations.
Kevin Harrison, manager of the Downlite warehouse where the ALB was found, said his staff investigated the beetle because its strange appearance caught their eye.
"One of my people found it in the warehouse and happened to say that he had never seen one before, so he and another guy looked it up on the internet and found out that we needed to call and report it," Harrison said.
Santos applauded the actions of the warehouse workers and the ODA.
"Those two warehouses reported the finding of the beetle," Santos said. "They didn't keep quiet, they didn't disregard it - they reported it. That's a huge step."
Santos said early detection can be the key to keeping an infestation from taking hold, potentially saving tens of thousands of trees.
"I think what (ODA) is doing is extremely proactive … in doing surveys, not just trusting that (the ALB) is just in the warehouses," Santos said.
Santos said the ALB often finds its way into warehouses by way of wooden packing pallets.
"The United States has placed regulations on wood packing material, which is how the ALB entered the country," Santos said. "(Materials) are inspected at points of entry, but it is difficult to go through every single pallet. The best thing for a receiver to do is to make sure that whoever they are receiving goods from are following those wood packing guidelines."
Santos is currently stationed in Massachusetts, where she said the ALB has destroyed 25,000 trees in the Worcester area with devastating effect.
"It's about industry," Santos said. "Sugar maples, tourism … I can tell you the landscape looks different."
The ALB has been a problem in the northeastern United States ever since it was first discovered in New York in 1996, but it has recently spread as far west as Illinois. Santos said a relatively small infestation of 1,500 trees in the Chicago area took 10 years to eradicate.
If an infestation is found near Mason, eradication efforts could include further inspections, chemical treatments and a regulatory quarantine of wood in the affected area.
Santos said people should avoid moving wood, look for signs of the ALB and learn more about infestation prevention. More information about the ALB can be found at http://www.beetlebusters.info and any sightings should be immediately reported to the ODA or USDA.
"If you like your trees and want to keep them, keep your eyes open," Santos said. "Be watchful."
