Trees in Central Park Being Threatened by Asian Longhorned Beetle

The nearly 75-year-old American Elms that line Liberty Walk in New York City are being threatened by the Asian Longhorned Beetle.

The beetle, which has destroyed more than 3,500 trees in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, has been discovered in two maple trees in the Hallett Nature Sanctuary in Central Park, explained Margaret Johnson, a spokesperson from the city’s parks and recreation department. Those two trees have since been removed and are being studied to determine the beetle’s life cycle in the tree and the impact the beetles have on the wood.

Though only two trees in Central Park have been infested, the city is worried about the potentially devastating effect these beetles can have on the park and its habitat.

“There are 26,000 trees in Central Park, 12,000 of those are potential hosts for this insect,” Johnson emphasized. “Half of the park has been surveyed, and so far no other infestations have been found.”

The beetle destroys trees by digging its way into a hardwood tree and laying eggs. The eggs hatch inside the tree and the larvae tunnel into the bark even further and become adults while still inside the tree. They then bore holes through the wood to exit the tree.

To fend off the insect, Johnson explained that officials are injecting imidacloprid into the tree base, which then disperses throughout the tree’s circulatory system, killing the beetle before it exists the tree.

The Parks Department estimates that while nearly half of New York City’s estimated 5.2 million trees are vulnerable to infestation, more than 1 billion trees in urban areas across the country are potential targets.