Adult beetles are attracted to volatile organic compounds produced by preferred host tree species. Both sexes are attracted to a volatile released by female A. glabripennis, and males attempt to copulate after contacting a sex pheromone on the female cuticle. (Hu et al. 2009)
The Asian Longhorned Beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) is native to eastern China, Japan, and Korea. However, it has now been accidentally introduced to the United States, where it was first discovered in 1996, as well as Canada and several countries in Europe, including Austria, France, Germany, and Italy. Individuals have been intercepted in warehouses across the United States. Outbreaks of this beetle pose a severe threat to even perfectly healthy trees in both forests and urban and suburban landscapes. A closely related species, A. chinensis, is considered one of the most destructive longhorned beetles in the world (and the longhorned beetles in general are among the most economically important pests of hardwood trees). Anoplophora glabripennis attacks a variety of tree species, including maples (Acer), willows (Salix), poplars (Populus), birches (Betula), elms (Ulmus), and horse chestnuts (Aesculus), among others. Early instar larvae feed beneath the bark of host trees, destroying the cambial tissue; late instar larvae weaken trees by feeding in both sapwood and heartwood, where numerous larval tunnels often result in tree breakage and death. Larvae bore into the main trunk, branches, and exposed roots of both young and old trees. This beetle is believed to have spread out of Asia in solid wood packaging material. (Cavey et al. 1998; Nowak et al. 2001 and references therein; Smith et al. 2001; Hu et al. 2009)
Although individuals do not typically disperse very far, some may travel as far as a kilometer or two in a season in search of new host trees (Hu et al. 2009).
Cavey et al. (1998) discuss the discrimination of A. glabripennis larvae from those of other species with which they could possibly be confused in North America.
Standard practice to control A. glabripennis in China is to spray insecticides in tree canopies. Wherever it is discovered outside its native range, infested trees are removed and destroyed. In North America, largely as a preventative measure, systemic insecticides are injected into trees.
Entomopathogenic fungi have been developed for the control of A. glabripennis, and entomopathogenic nematodes, coleopteran and hymenopteran parasitoids and predatory woodpeckers have been investigated as biocontrol agents. Ecological control of A. glabripennis in China involves planting mixtures of preferred and nonpreferred tree species, and this practice can successfully prevent outbreaks. (Hu et al. 2009)
Anoplophora glabripennis outbreaks began in China in the 1980s following major reforestation programs that used A. glabripennis-susceptible tree species (Haack et al. 2010). Nowak et al. (2001) investigated the potential maximum impact of A. glabripennis on urban trees in the United States. They predicted that this beetle could cause a loss of about a third of urban trees in the conterminous United States--more than a billion trees--with a compensatory value of nearly three quarters of a trillion dollars.
Based on their analyses of ecological parameters in the native range of A. glabripennis, Peterson et al. (2004) predict that the greatest risk of establishment in North America is in the eastern United States, where abundant appropriate habitat lies close to major shipping ports, especially in the region just south of the Great Lakes.
