Asian Longhorned Beetle Detected in Mount Pleasant

(Photo Courtesy of Appleby James, USFWS on Pixnio)

Officials with the Clemson University Department of Plant Industry (DPI) are asking residents, arborists, construction site contractors, and debris management companies to refrain from moving certain hardwood tree debris, including maple, from Mount Pleasant after inspectors detected Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) on the grounds of a commercial shopping center in the town.

Clemson DPI and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant and Animal Inspection Service are collaborating to determine the extent of the infestation. They will announce an official quarantine area in the coming weeks.

Officials are asking home and business owners to cooperate by giving the DPI and USDA inspectors property access as they conduct surveys to determine the extent of the infestation.

Private contractors working within Mount Pleasant should coordinate with the South Carolina Asian Longhorned Beetle Cooperative Eradication Program to determine how hardwoods can be properly deregulated and disposed of to ensure infested material doesn’t spread and eradication efforts remain effective.

The infestation was detected on Aug. 24 by two off-duty DPI inspectors who saw suspicious insect damage on maple trees consistent with ALB and followed up.

The Mount Pleasant detection comes amid a five-year, multifront battle against the insect in Hollywood, South Carolina.

“It’s difficult to know how the insects ended up in Mount Pleasant,” said Steven Long, assistant director of Clemson Regulatory Services, who oversees DPI.

“It’s frustrating that invasive insects can move in several ways, including on humans, vehicles, equipment, firewood, woody debris or on packing material from international goods.”

The Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora gla ipennis, is a wood-boring beetle that threatens various hardwood trees, including maple, elm, willow, sycamore, poplar, and birch. It is not a pest of the oak or pine species that are more abundant in South Carolina.

As the beetle bores into the tree, it interrupts the flow of life-giving sap and weakens it, ultimately killing it. Infested trees can also become safety hazards, since branches can drop and trees can fall over, especially during storms.

South Carolina was the sixth state to detect an Asian longhorned beetle infestation. The pest has been eradicated from New Jersey and Illinois; eradication efforts are ongoing in New York, Massachusetts, and Ohio with guidance from the APHIS Asian Longhorned Beetle Eradication Program.

In addition to allowing state and federal inspectors access to property to survey for the pest, residents in the town of Mount Pleasant and in surrounding Charleston County communities are encouraged to also help by looking for the beetle and examining the trees on their property for damage that the beetles may cause.

The Asian longhorned beetle is shiny black with small, white spots on its body and abnormally long antennae. Adult beetles can grow an inch and a half long.

The beetle’s larvae feed by tunneling under the tree bark, where they live through the winter, forming feeding galleries in the trunk and branches. They chew their way out when mature, creating round holes about 3/8 inch in diameter.

Signs of infestation could include:

• Large, round exit holes — About the size of a pencil, created when adult beetles emerge from the tree.
• Sap oozing down the bark — Often appearing as dark streaks or wet spots below exit holes or wounds.
• Shallow, discolored depressions — Where female beetles chew into the bark to lay eggs.
• Sawdust or wood shavings — Accumulating at the base of the tree or caught in branch crotches, caused by larval feeding inside the wood.

South Carolinians who believe they have found infested trees may report it online at https://clemson.edu/alb, by email at stopalb@clemson.edu or by calling DPI at 843-973-8329.

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