Finding of invasive beetle in Boston sets off alarms

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http://www.boston.com/yourtown/brookline/articles/2010/07/07/finding_of_invasive_beetle_in_boston_sets_off_alarms/

Asian longhorned beetles, a much-feared invasive pest with the potential to devastate New England’s forests, have been discovered in Boston, across the street from the country’s oldest public arboretum.

Six infested red maples bordering a parking lot at Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain were cut down early yesterday morning. Teams of tree climbers and spotters, sent in by federal officials, have begun laboriously examining every tree vulnerable to the beetle within 1.5 miles.

The sighting of the beetles fanned worries that trees would have to be chopped down in treasured open spaces including the nearby Arnold Arboretum, Franklin Park, and Jamaica Pond. The beetle, which thrives on New England’s signature maples, has no known predators in the United States, and infested trees must be destroyed to prevent the insect’s spread.

The insect has “the ability to be the beetle that ate New England,’’ said Frank Lowenstein, director of forest health for the Nature Conservancy. “The trees that are its favorite food are the very trees that are characteristic of our region.

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