Communities on alert statewide for beetles

SWAMPSCOTT – Six legs, two long antennae and a flecked black body, the Asian long-horned beetle is again stirring panic among tree owners across the state.Last year, the insects destroyed acres of hardwood. Thousands of infested maple, birch, horse, chestnut, poplar, willow, elm and ash trees were cut and burned to ash to avoid a recurrence.The state Department of Agricultural Resources (DAR) on Thursday unveiled plans to visit with agricultural groups in Dighton, Wellesley and Worcester over the next few weeks to teach how to identify the invasive species. The timing is critical since it’s easier to spot damage to trunks and branches before the growth of new leaves.”Last season they didn’t get past Worcester. If they came here, it would be devastating,” said Bonnie Marsan at Carpenter & Costin, a Swampscott-based landscaping and arborist company. “The only way to stop them is to cut and burn the infested trees.”The DAR has been spreading the word that the Asian long-horned beetle should be a significant concern to all. “The beetle is capable of altering the landscape while negatively affecting agricultural production across the state,” said DAR Commissioner Douglas Petersen.According to Petersen, when the beetles tunnel into trunks and branches of trees, sap flow is disrupted, which weakens and eventually kills trees. No cure is known. Once a beetle attacks a tree, the only remedy is to fell and burn it. DAR officials note that widespread infestation threatens the nursery, lumber, wood product, maple syrup and tourism industries and would disrupt the state’s forest ecosystem.Bob Childs, an etymologist at the University of Massachusetts and a specialist in beetles that attack trees and shrubs, said 19,000 trees have been felled in the Worcester area since Jan. 5 in an effort to eradicate the pest. “There are thousands more trees to go. Twenty tree crews are working every day,” he said. “Nearly $100 million will be spent over the next three years to get rid of these insects in Worcester. Unfortunately, our trees have no natural defenses against them.”Tom McCrumm, executive director of the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association and owner of the South Face Farm Sugar House in Ashfield, said unless the insects are contained, they could prove catastrophic to New England’s hardwood forest and the maple syrup industry.To help assess damage and reach out to the agricultural industry, the DAR is hosting training sessions this spring to educate the public in Worcester, Wellesley and Dighton.Since the insect was first detected in Massachusetts last August, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has led an ongoing eradication effort in partnership with the impacted communities, the DAR and the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.Through this initiative, known as the Massachusetts Asian Longhorned Beetle Cooperative Eradication Program, state and federal officials removed 18,758 trees – including infested trees and host trees in danger of infestation – in the Worcester area, according to Catherine Williams, assistant press secretary at the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. The beetle was likely introduced to the United States in New York in 1996 via wood packing material shipped from Asia, she said.State officials released information about how to spot an infestation, noting that adult beetles won’t emerge until summer, so spring detection efforts focus on looking for telltale signs of damage from the previous season.Female beetles chew small oval pits, 1/2 inch in diameter, to lay their eggs beneath tree bark. After the eggs hatch, the larvae bore into and feed off of living trees over the winter.Signs of an infestation include smooth, round, dime-sized holes left by adult beetles exiting a tree, sawdust-like material on the ground around the trunk or on tree limbs and oozing sap. If an exit hole can be easily reached, try fitting the eraser end of a pencil into the hole. If it does not go in straight