Asian Longhorned Beetle
Anoplophora glabripennis
Summary 6
The Asian long-horned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis), also known as the starry sky, sky beetle, or ALB, is native to eastern China, Japan, and Korea. This species has now been accidentally introduced into the United States, where it was first discovered in 1996, as well as Canada, and several countries in Europe, including Austria, France, Germany, Italy and UK. This beetle is believed to have been spread from Asia in solid wood packaging material.
Taxonomy and description 7
Common names for A. glabripennis in Asia are the starry sky beetle, basicosta white-spotted longicorn beetle, or smooth shoulder-longicorn, and it is called the Asian long-horned beetle (ALB) in North America.
Adults are very large insects with bodies ranging from 1.7 to 3.9 cm (0.67 to 1.54 in) in length and antennae which can be as long as 4 cm (1.6 in) or 1.5–2 times longer than the body of the insect. They are shiny black with about 20 white spots on each wing cover and long antennae conspicuously banded black and white. These beetles can fly, but generally only for short distances, which is a common limitation for Cerambycidae of their size and weight. The upper sections of the legs of the adults are whitish-blue. A. glabripennis can be distinguished from related species by the markings on the wing covers and the pattern of the antennae.
Range, habitat, and hosts 8
The Asian long-horned beetle is native to eastern Asia, primarily in eastern China and Korea. This species was known from Japan in the mid-1800s, but may or may not be native there. It is invasive outside its native range.
In its native range, A. glabripennis primarily infests plants like maple, poplar, willow, and elm trees. In the United States, A. glabripennis has completed development on species of these genera and also Aesculus, Albizia, birch, katsura, ash, planes, and Sorbus. In Canada, complete development has been confirmed only on maple, birch, poplar, and willow, although oviposition has occurred on other tree genera. Maple is the most commonly infested tree genus in North America, followed by elm and willow. In Europe, complete development has been recorded on maple, Aesculus, alder, birch, hornbeam, beech, ash, planes, poplar, Prunus, willow, and Sorbus. The top five host genera infested in Europe, in decreasing order, are maple, birch, willow, Aesculus, and poplar. Not all poplar species are equally susceptible to attack. Other economically important trees attacked include apple (Malus domestica), mulberry (Morus alba), stone fruits (Prunus spp.), pear (Pyrus spp.), roses (Rosa spp.), and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia).
In North America, established populations were first discovered in August 1996 in Brooklyn, New York and has since been found in other areas of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Ohio, and Ontario in Canada. However, it has also been eradicated from some regions within these states and provinces. The first confirmed detection in South Carolina was June 4, 2020, at a residence in Hollywood, Charleston County. As a result both Clemson University's State Crop Pest Commission (which regulates crop pests for the state government) and the federal APHIS declared a quarantine.
Sources and Credits
- P.S. Meng, K. Hoover, and M.A. Keena., no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ALBadult.jpg
- Pudding4brains, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anoplophora_glabripennis_Enschede2008_a214.jpg
- Pudding4brains, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anoplophora_glabripennis_Enschede2008_b652.jpg
- Steven Katovich, USDA Forest Service., no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ALBlarvae.jpg
- USDA Forest Service, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ALB_infestation_map.jpg
- Adapted by Will Kuhn from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoplophora_glabripennis
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_long-horned_beetle
- Adapted by Will Kuhn from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_long-horned_beetle
