ASIAN LONGHORNED BEETLE: DID YOU KNOW?
Anoplophora glabripennis
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Native to China and the Korean Peninsula, the invasive Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB, Anoplophora glabripennis) is in the wood-boring beetle family Cerambycidae. ALB is a pest of maple (Acer sp.) and other hardwoods, eventually killing the trees it attacks.

Adult ALB are large, distinctive-looking insects, measuring 1 to 1.5 inches in length with long antennae. Their bodies are black with small white spots, and their antennae are banded in black and white (see picture and video).

​Adult females chew depressions into the bark of various hardwood tree species. They lay an egg (about the size of a rice grain) under the bark at each site. Females can lay up to 90 eggs in their lifetime! The egg hatches within 2 weeks and the white larva bores into the tree, feeding on the living tissue that carries nutrients and the layer responsible for new growth under the bark. After several weeks, the larva tunnels into the woody tree tissue where it continues to feed and develop over the winter. Larvae molt and can go through as many as 13 growth ​phases. As the larvae feed, they form tunnels or galleries in tree trunks and branches (see picture below).
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​Sawdust-like material, called frass, from the beetle’s burrowing can be found at the trunk and branch bases of infested trees. Over the course of a year, beetle larvae develop into adults. The white pupal stage (left) lasts 13 to 24 days.

​​Once they have exited a tree, they feed on its leaves and bark for 10 to 14 days before mating and laying eggs. Because ALB can overwinter in multiple life stages, adults emerge at different times. This results in their feeding, mating, and laying eggs throughout the summer and fall. ​

​USDA and its cooperators have eradicated infestations in Illinois and New Jersey, and eradication efforts continue in New York, 
Massachusetts, and in Ohio.  For these efforts to succeed, residents must remain on the lookout for ALB. If you see a beetle or suspect that tree damage is caused by the ALB, please report it by calling the hotline: 1-866-702-9938 or filling out the online form: 

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/pests-diseases/alb/report
​​After adult beetles emerge from the pupae, they chew their way out of the tree, leaving round exit holes approximately three-eighths of an inch in diameter (see above picture).
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​Additional ResourcesUSDA U.S. Forest Service, September 2012
“ Asian Longhorned Beetle and its Host Trees”

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​Credits:  Life Cycle images are used under a Creative Commons license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/):
Egg (cropped): Larry R. Barber, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org
Larva (cropped): Steven Katovich, Bugwood.org
Pupa: Kenneth R. Law, USDA APHIS PPQ, Bugwood.org