Source: NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/30/nyregion/thousands-of-trees-will-fall-in-a-renewed-battle-to-stop-a-beetle.html
Date Published: September 29, 2014
Summary
The Asian long horned beetle supposedly arrived in America in the 1980's, transported on ships before a regulation that required wood objects traveling to be heat treated and fumigated. They lay their eggs under a tree's bark, and the larvae grows there throughout the winter, destroying the insides as it eventually burrows out. This has killed up to 80,00 trees in the United States and has costed the government $236 million to combat so far since 1997. These beetles were thought to have been eradicated after destroying trees near New Jersey, and the battle was near won on Long Island. However this was not the case, as they started popping up again, revealing that the area they were in was double the original estimate. One positive is that adult beetles are terrible fliers, tending to stay in one place their whole life, allowing the majority of the beetle population to be more easily deduced than if they could spread out better. The combat against these beetles is still raging on, and the battle will be costly to once and for all weed out this invasive species.
This is relevant to the ecology unit, as this involves the problem of invasive species damaging native ones. One problem with invasive species, is the damaging and destroying property, which can be seen here as at a local cemetery, 80 trees alone were destroyed by these pests. It also shows that containing and controlling these pests is very difficult, as the previously thought to be won battle lasted over a decade, and cost over 100 million dollars.
