Asian long-horned beetle
About This Species
Asian long-horned beetle is a highly destructive wood-boring insect native to several countries in Asia including China, Japan, and South Korea. Asian long-horned beetle hasn’t been found in BC, but has been reported in Ontario. It could accidentally be transported here in shipping containers, wooden packaging material (such as wooden pallets, crates, and boxes), and vehicles traveling from regions where it is established. Asian long-horned beetle could also spread long distances to other provinces or territories through transport of infested wood products like firewood and logs.
Adult beetles feed on tree species including Mountain ash and Horse chestnut, as well as species belonging to the maple, willow, poplar, and birch families. Both adult and larval feeding can damage and stunt young trees, reduce the quality of wood, and make trees more susceptible to disease. Several of this beetle’s host trees are important species to BC forestry.
How to Identify
Adult beetles are 2-4 cm long and bullet-shaped. The abdomen is black with white speckles. The foot pads are blue. The antennae are longer than the body of the beetle and have regular bluish-white and black stripes.
Female beetles lay eggs into holes bored into tree bark. The holes are 6-12 mm wide, and when fresh may be choked with tree sap. The larvae are large grubs, 4-5 cm long with creamy-white with dark pointed mouthparts at one end.
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