Alby 1

Hey there!!  I am ALBY, an Asian Longhorned Beetle. Please take me to caches located near campgrounds, National Forests, State Parks, and other outdoor recreation areas. I would like to tell my story to as many people as possible. I was recruited by Mississippi State University, the Mississippi Bureau of Plant Industry, and the Mississippi Forestry Commission to increase awareness of the dangers of moving firewood. Moving firewood over long distances can spread tree-killing pests.

Let me tell you a bit about myself. As my name suggests, I am originally from eastern China and Korea. My ancestors arrived in this country as stowaways on cargo ships. We make our homes in the heartwood of trees. Maple is prime real estate, but poplar, willow, and elm make cozy homes as well. In our homeland, we usually prefer stressed or unhealthy trees that are dying anyway, because they are easy targets! Sometimes our homes get repurposed into pallets and loaded onto giant cargo ships that carry merchandise and materials across the oceans.

As the story goes, way back in the 1990’s my ancestors endured great hardships to arrive in this country. They managed to survive a gauntlet of saw blades and a trial by fire. When they emerged from pallets on a huge cargo ship, they were in a busy New York City port. Little did they know that they arrived in a land of “milk and honey”. There were a plethora of new host tree families that made great homes for rearing children. These include: Maple, Birch, Beech, Ash, Sycamore, Willow, Elm, Apple, Silk tree, Hickory, Silverberry, Parasol tree, Basswood, and Katsura. They quickly discovered that they could construct homes even in healthy trees here in the USA, because they were met with little to no resistance from tree defenses, predators, or pathogens. 

Times were good, and we began to spread rapidly across the northeastern United States. We even had more of our relatives making the journey across the Pacific to join in on the fun! Before you knew it, they were taking up residence in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Ohio. Some crossed the border into Canada and took up residence in Toronto, Ontario. Some of our other relatives dispersed to other countries including Austria, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

My relatives took advantage of global trade to invade many new regions, and other pests have followed suit. We threaten both forest biodiversity and industry in our new homelands. One of our favorite tricks is to hitch a ride in firewood that has been transported over long distances. If people would buy firewood close to their campsite, it would be much harder for us to move around to new areas of the USA.

ALB

Don't Move Firewood