Infested plant material was confiscated and destroyed. Unfortunately, as with the Asian longhorn, at present the only proven method to control the beetle is to destroy infested plant material. We suspect that this cedar beetle has been here for a minimum of 5-10 years. Much like the Asian longhorned beetle, it probably arrived in imported wood. Port inspectors have intercepted the small Japanese cedar longhorned beetle over one thousand times.
Most finds are in cedar wood, particularly dunnage, from eastern Asia.
Dunnage is material used to protect and support cargo in a ship's hold. Dunnage could easily be knocked overboard during the unloading of cargo, or adult beetles could emerge from the wood and fly to the nearby shore where trees in the cedar family are sometimes plentiful. We have learned much since the small Japanese cedar longhorn was discovered in Fairfield and New Haven Counties in 1998. We know that the adults, which live about 20 days, are active between late March and early June. The male is mostly iridescent bluish black with red at the corners of the wing covers, and the female is mostly reddish brown.