Pest Alert:
Japanese Cedar Longhorned Beetle Found in Maryland For The First Time
From: Bob Trumbule, Entomologist, Maryland Department of Agriculture Plant Protection and Weed Management
Japanese Cedar Longhorned Beetle, Callidiellum rufipenne, has been found and identification confirmed in Maryland for the first time. It was found on Cryptomeria japonica 'Yoshino' planted in the Severn area of Anne Arundel County. Identification was made by Gaye Williams and has been confirmed by SEL. We have been in contact with the Department of Agriculture of the out of state supplier of the nursery stock to see if the problem started there and are currently performing a survey in Maryland to determine whether it is established in the area where the infested stock was planted. Further information will be forthcoming as we get it.
Be on the lookout for this pest. It was detected due to dieback of leaders and branches of the infested plant material. Fully developed adult beetles were found in tunnels in the infested plants.
Please feel free to contact me (Bob Trumbule)) with any questions
1 comment:
Faith Campbell at phytodoer@aol.com writes: " a description of the situation re: the Japanese cedar longhorned beetle which I wrote in 2002:
During the 1970s and early 1980s, the Japanese cedar longhorned beetle (Callidiellum rufipenne) was intercepted frequently by APHIS in wood packaging material (SWPM). However, because a 1982 risk assessment concluded that the beetle feeds only on dead or dying material, APHIS stopped considering the species to be a quarantine pest. In 1997-1998, the insect was discovered feeding on live arborvitae in Connecticut. By spring 2000, the beetle had been located in several sites from Rhode Island to New Jersey, and in North Carolina. APHIS immediately restored the insect’s status as a quarantine pest. Further study has shown that the beetle feeds on more than nine genera of conifers, including firs, junipers, and pines. Despite the absence of interceptions records for the period 1982-1998 (when it was not considered a “quarantine pest”), the Japanese cedar longhorned beetle was one of the most frequently intercepted species entering on SWPM before implementation of the international standard requiring that SWPM be treated (2006). Another possible pathway of introduction is nursery stock – as appears to have been the case in this instance. "
Post a Comment