It'll be hard on residents, but losses will be far greater if we don't act now. This borer is a serious pest in China, and early reports indicate that it likes our maples even better than its own. If we let this invasion get a head of steam, entire forests will be at risk. What makes the longhorn beetle such a threat is that it attacks healthy trees of any age, not just stressed or aging trees. It also produces new adults each year, instead of every two to four years like other longhorn beetles.
Galleries structurally weaken the tree and interrupt the flow of water from the roots to the leaves.
In the spring, the adults chew an exit hole through the bark and fly to the same or other trees to lay more eggs. Homeowners are not the only group eager to stop the rampage. Many in the New England forest products industry stand to lose a great deal if this beetle escapes from New York. This is not the first time Haack has been asked to destroy an exotic insect. In 1992, he fought the pine shoot beetle invasion, and enjoyed seeing his research immediately touch people's lives and prompt changes in federal quarantine regulations.