In early January we were informed that the proposal would be funded. For a little back ground on this insect, this small beetle was first detected in the United states in South Carolina in 1974 and has since spread to North Carolina, Florida, and across the southeastern states to east Texas. The range of host plants for this insect is very broad with 126 known host plants in the tropics. In the U.S., known hosts include pecan, peach, plum, cherry, persimmon, golden rain tree, sweet gum, Shumard oak, Chinese elm, sweet potato and magnolia to name a few. The Asian ambrosia beetle is very small with adult female beetles being 2.1 to 2.9 mm long and males a little smaller, being only 1.5 mm long.
Males are also flightless and much less numerous than females.
An infestation starts with a mated female beetle boring in to a twig, branch or trunk of a host plant. Unlike other wood infesting beetles that seem to prefer trees under stress, the Asian ambrosia beetle will attack seemingly healthy trees. Infestations by this beetle can be very obvious. When female beetles are excavating galleries they push out strings of boring dust which will resemble tooth picks. These protrusions can be up to an inch in length and are quite obvious, often with several hundred on an individual tree.