USDA BEGINS TO ERADICATE ASIAN LONGHORNED BEETLE

USDA BEGINS TO ERADICATE ASIAN LONGHORNED BEETLE    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has started chemical treatments to eradicate the Asian longhorned beetle.
   The wood-eating pest, imported into the country in untreated wood-packing from China and Hong Kong, has destroyed thousands of trees in and around New York City and Chicago in recent years.
   APHIS placed treatment requirements on all solid-wood packing material in cargo from China and Hong Kong last year, but now the agency must deal with the infestation of the Asian longhorned beetle already in the country.
   The agency will use chemical treatments of imidacloprid, which will be delivered to trees by soil and trunk injections. Copies of APHIS’ environmental impact assessment of imidacloprid may be viewed on the Internet at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/ead/alb.html .
   “This systematic insecticide will help to suppress the population of adult beetles and slow their spread,” said Michael V. Dunn, undersecretary for USDA’s marketing and regulatory programs. “We are constantly researching tools and methods that may be helpful in our battle against this tree-killing pest.”