Super Small Insect From Asia Brings Havoc To New York Maple Trees

In New York, maple syrup is a huge thing during the autumn time. The trees that produced the sweet sticky syrup are being attacked by an outside invader.

With an abundance of maple trees in Central New York, it is worth keeping an eye out for the Asian Longhorned Beetle. This little bug is fairly distinct with its size and color pattern. It is a 2-inch bug that has black and white coloring on their antennas. They also have white spots on their shells.

A bug that varies in size from an inch and a half to two inches may not seem like anything large and brutal, but think about how big an ant is. For a bug to be two inches long means more than likely they are 1/3 the size of your phone screen for size comparison.

This species of beetle isn't exactly anything completely new to New York State, as they first had been spotted here in 1996 according to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). They made their route to the United States from Asia via shipping containers of wood. But now they are here, and they like to snack on our maple trees. The DEC also lists things to be on the lookout for on trees.

• Small round exit holes on trees
• Round depressions in the outer bark where eggs have been laid.
• Sap leaking from the depressions and exit holes.
• Sawdust, or frass, collecting at the base of the tree or on branches.

The Asian Longhorned Beetle actually can kill a tree over the span of 7-9 years. What the DEC is saying you can do to help is actually to check your pools. If you see one of these filthy insects, they ask that you take a picture and send it to foresthealth@dec.ny.gov.