New Yorkers urged to be on lookout for tree-eating Asian longhorned beetle

Federal agriculture officials are calling on Long Islanders and all other New Yorkers to be on the lookout for the Asian longhorned beetle, an insect with a ravenous appetite for trees that has killed thousands over previous summers in the metropolitan area.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service recommends residents check trees in their yards or around their neighborhoods for signs of the beetles, which are typically about 1 to 1½ inches long. They are recognizable by the white bands that blot their shiny black bodies and antennae, as well as their legs that “can appear bluish in color,” the department said in a news release.

Evidence that an Asian longhorned beetle has dug into a tree and begun feasting include pencil-sized holes in trunks or branches, depressions in bark where they lay eggs, dead or dying branches and a “sawdust-like material” on the ground, according to the USDA.

“When residents take a few minutes to check their trees, they become our partners in protecting trees,” USDA Under Secretary Dudley Hoskins said in a statement. “Every report, whether it’s a beetle sighting or signs of damage, helps us act quickly and prevent this invasive pest from spreading.”

The beetles are “most active in late summer,” therefore “easier to spot now on trees, patios, outdoor furniture and other nearby surfaces,” the department said. Early detection of infestation provides federal and state officials a better chance at stopping a spread. The insects are known to attack and destroy a variety of trees, including birches, buckeyes, elms, maples and willows.

Asian longhorned beetles were first discovered in New York in 1996, a few years after they made their way to the United States from China, Newsday previously reported. The insects went on to kill thousands of trees across the state, including in Islip,  Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island.

Fifteen years into the beetle battle, the USDA quarantined an infestation to a portion of Long Island centered in Amityville that covered both Nassau and Suffolk counties, Newsday reported at the time. By that point, the pests killed 1,941 trees in that area, plus another 181 in Islip, where an infestation was deemed eradicated in 2011.

In 2023, the beetle was again quarantined to an area of Long Island, this time a 53-mile inter-county stretch, Newsday has reported. That area remains one of a handful of "active infestations" nationwide, along with infestations in parts of Massachusetts, Ohio and South Carolina, according to the USDA. The Long Island quarantine area, designed to prohibit the movement of any wood that could harbor the beetle from the lava stage through adulthood, remains in place, according to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

The insect “and the damage it can bring” remains “well-known in the Amityville community,” Suffolk County Legis. Jason Richberg (D-West Babylon) said in an emailed statement to Newsday.

“Amityville is one of the first places in the US where the invasive species was found back in the 90s, and it's concerning to hear that the USDA is warning that they may be back,” said Richberg, whose district includes Amityville. “The county is fully prepared to work with our partners in state and federal government to make sure the public is informed and we can address this before it gets out of hand.”