Spring is finally in the air, which means insects are as well. One insect you should become familiar with is the whitespotted pine sawyer, a native longhorned insect that looks a lot like the invasive Asian longhorned beetle (ALB)! While these two species are easily confused, there are several big differences to keep in mind […]
Any individual or commercial business that works handling woody tree material in Worcester, Boylston, West Boylston, Shrewsbury, Holden, or Auburn needs to go through annual compliance training to ensure they know about Asian longhorned beetle (ALB). ALB is an invasive wood-boring insect from Asia that was discovered in Worcester in 2008. Woody material, including branches, […]
Are you a 5th grade teacher or a 5th grade student with a passion for art or nature? Then we have the perfect opportunity for you! The Department of Conservation and Recreation has announced its 2018 Arbor Day Poster Contest, a chance to win cool prizes for your school by showing off your artistic talent […]
January is always a busy month for us, and serves as a perfect tone setter for the new year’s outreach. Even when it’s cold and snowy out there’s plenty of opportunities to inform different sectors of the public about Asian longhorned beetle and other threats to our Massachusetts forests! Our first event was the Massachusetts […]
With the cold now upon us, adult Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) have since died off, but their life cycle continues unseen. At this point, the larvae have long since hatched and burrowed into any tree that their eggs were laid on, and that is where the real damage from this invasive insect is occurring. From […]
With the temperatures dropping, people’s thoughts are turning towards firewood to stay warm. A recent announcement from USDA reminds citizens of how firewood and woody plant material can serve as a vector for Asian longhorned beetle (ALB). Adult ALB are poor flyers but the larva can remain in wood that may be transported, making human […]
As usual, September was one of our busiest outreach seasons! The annual Big E event was the highlight of the month and maybe the year, and provided an excellent opportunity to reach a wide audience and educate them about Asian longhorned beetle and other invasive insects. We were excited to attend Massachusetts Day at the […]
In August we helped put together a series of presentations for the nonprofit urban ecological stewardship group Tree Northampton (http://www.treenorthampton.org) after director Jonathan Gottsche contacted us looking to come up with presentations tailored to tree professionals, conservation volunteers, and members of the public interested in tree health. Tree Northampton wanted to learn more about the […]
Massachusetts is home to several native species of longhorned beetle, many of which bear some resemblance to the destructive invasive pest Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) (Anaplophora glabripennis). The Graphisurus beetle (Graphisurus fasciatus) has some similarities to ALB but can be distinguished in a few key ways. Though it shares the long antennae and long splayed […]
While keeping an eye out for Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) this season, be aware of the several harmless native lookalike species you may encounter. For example, the northeastern sawyer (Monochamus notatus) strongly resembles the whitespotted pine sawyer and thus is similar to ALB. The northeastern sawyer is our largest native longhorn beetle, about as large […]