Features: Three species of wood-boring longhorn beetles that
attack many kinds of trees Where they're from: Asia, Europe, North America How they spread: Importation of infested plants, timber, or
wood packing and dunnage used to secure cargo At risk: Many trees including apple, pear, citrus, walnut,
stonefruit; many ornamental hardwood trees, freshly cut
logs/timber with bark, some native trees
Longhorn beetles are identifiable by their extra-long antennae.
Asian longhorn beetle is up to 3.5 cm long, black with white
spots, and attacks hardwood trees. Kenneth R. Law, USDA APHIS PPQ, Bugwood.org
attacks over 100 species of woody trees including elm, willow, poplar, maple and a variety of fruit and other ornamental and amenity trees
larvae feed under the bark and later enter woody tissues
adults damage trees by feeding on leaves and young bark, with damage to the fruiting shoots of fruit trees resulting in economic loss
can attack healthy trees as well as trees under stress, quickly overcoming and killing even the healthy trees.
The black and white citrus longhorn:
attacks the same range of plants as the Asian longhorn beetle, plus citrus, lychee, mulberry, oak, pear, chestnut, fig, walnut, pecan, Rosa, Platanus, Acacia, Casuarina and Psidium and a species of Pinus
could devastate Australia’s citrus, apple and pear plantations and destroy forests and native bush.
The white-spotted longhorn beetle:
has a similar host range to Anoplophora chinensis, attacking species in citrus, willow, Acer, blueberry, Alnus and Casuarina.
could devastate Australia’s citrus plantations and destroy forests and native bush.
Importing goods
To keep longhorn beetles out of Australia, never ignore Australia’s strict biosecurity rules.
Australia has native species of beetles with long antennae, but look out for these exotic species which are black with white spots, shiny and with extra-long black and white antennae.
Exotic longhorn beetles:
can grow quite large—Asian longhorn beetle grows up to about 3.5 cm long
lays eggs under bark
larvae (grubs) up to 5.6 cm long.
Tell-tale signs of tree infestation include:
sap oozing from egg laying holes
stripped bark
tunnels under the bark and in the wood
sawdust like frass and wood pulp extruding from oval exit holes 1–2 cm wide
frass on branches and at the base of an infested tree.
In imported timber, pallets and dunnage:
tunnels in the wood up to 1.5 cm wide
sawdust-like frass falling from damaged timber
oval exit holes about 1–2 cm wide.
Various exotic longhorn beetle species. Peggy Greb, USDA Agricultural Research Service, BugwoodLook for bark stripped from trees as adult longhorn beetles feed. Dean Morewood, Health Canada, Bugwood.org
Where to look
Importers
Importation of infested plants, wood, wood packaging and dunnage is the most likely way that longhorn beetles would make it to Australia.
In wood, look out for tunnels, oval exit holes up to 2 cm across and frass falling from damaged timber.
Home gardeners
Check hardwood trees including maples, elms, poplars and fruit trees.
Growers
Look out for longhorn beetles and the damage they cause in:
apple
pear
citrus
apricot
pecan
fig.
What to do
If you think you’ve found longhorn beetle:
take a photo
do not disturb infested material (this may be as simple as closing the doors on a shipping container or putting a piece of timber into a plastic bag)
