Ohio Department of Agriculture announces new discovery of Asian Longhorned Beetle in Clermont County

The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), in collaboration with the United States’ Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today announced the discovery of the Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) on two properties in Stonelick Township in Clermont County.

The center of the newly discovered infestation is on Possum Hollow Road within southern Stonelick Township in Clermont County. State and federal officials cite the movement of firewood in 2010 from Tate Township, prior to the current ALB quarantine zone being established, as the source of the new discovery.

APHIS and ODA inspection crews are surveying the surrounding areas to determine the extent of the ALB infestation.

Crews will inspect host tree species susceptible to ALB for signs of the wood-boring beetle using ground surveyors and specially trained tree climbers.

Once the extent of the infestation is evaluated, ODA will move to expand the ALB quarantine to include additional properties near the new infestation. When available, a map of the regulated properties will be posted at www.agri.ohio.gov.

In September 2011, firewood movement from Tate Township was cited as the source of an ALB infestation on properties in Monroe Township in Clermont County.

“To prevent the spread of this destructive insect, it is crucial that firewood not be moved from areas known to have ALB,” said Matt Beal, chief of the ODA Division of Plant Health. “As we learn more about where potentially infested material has moved in recent years, it is important for property owners familiarize themselves with the signs of an ALB infestation, monitor your trees and firewood, and as the property owner did correctly in this instance, report any signs of infestation as soon as possible.”

Adult ALBs are large, shiny black insects measuring 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, not including antennae, with random white spots. Their white-banded antennae can be as long as the body itself on females and almost twice the body length on males.

Signs of infestation include perfectly round exit holes (about 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diameter) made by adult beetles when they emerge from trees; the pockmarks on tree trunks and branches where female beetles deposit eggs; frass (wood shavings and saw dust) produced by larvae feeding and tunneling; early fall coloration of leaves or dead branches, and running sap produced by the tree at the egg laying sites, or in response to larval tunneling.

To report signs or symptoms of ALB, please call the Ohio ALB Cooperative Eradication Program Office at 513-381-7180 or report online at www.BeetleBusters.info.