Invasive Insect Species The Asian Longhorn Beetle (ALHB) By: Steven, Dylan and Mark

General Knowledge ~Was previously eradicated in Vaughan and in parts of Toronto where there was recently an outbreak. ~In Toronto, 42% of trees are preferred by the ALHB, with 33% being maple trees. ~Was first discovered in North America in the early 1990s due to global trading and the ALHB being brought in unintentionally ~Can potentially remove 70% of our trees and forests in the urban areas of the infestation ~The ALHB is about centimeters in length ~Has infested the United States, Canada, Trinidad, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom ~The ALHB can fly for a short distance of 350m-450m

Scientific Perspective How does the Asian Longhorn Beetle grow and reproduce? ~The ALHB has a life cycle, an adult lays an egg, then the egg goes through 4 stages, the early stage, the mid stage, the late stage, and the pupa stage. ~The female ALHB lays one egg per burrow it makes in a tree, the number of eggs placed depends on how many burrows are made. ~It takes about months for the ALHB to go from an egg to an adult. ~ALHB live in trees and don’t often venture off from a small area of trees.

Technological Perspective Equipment used to find and track invasive species ~The best piece of equipment to use is a good pair of binoculars, they are all we need to find and track the ALHB. ~Scientists create artificial habitats for the ALHB in laboratories so their living habits are observed and learned. ~The observations allow us to see how the ALHB live, so preventive measures can be taken ~Citizens are a huge part in the ALHB infestation, and can take action. ~We have observed that males can be all over the tree searching for a mate and the females are feeding on various parts of the tree or digging burrows within the tree. ~ALHB are found to live in trees that are preferred, no matter where that tree may be, but they can also be found in hedgerows, and on the edges of woodlots or ravines.

Societal Perspective ~Affects the humans and animals around the infestation of ALHB ~The main organism that it kills are trees ~The ALHB feeds on the trees tissue and eats all of the nutrients and water inside. ~Places that are affected by this will lose a high number of tourists because of all the infested and dead trees everywhere. ~Carbon cycle will be affected because of the lack of photosynthesis which means that the carbon in the air cannot be absorbed and given out as oxygen to humans and animals. ~Food industries such as the maple syrup industries which is fueled from maple trees can decrease and industries that supply maple syrup will have to downsize

Spreading and Controlling ~The ALHB survives under very harsh conditions and is extremely hard to get rid of completely ~They can also get into firewood and can survive if hidden. This means that humans should not move firewood or else the ALHB can spread again whether you are in or out of a quarantine zone. ~To control the outbreak, every infested tree is needed to be destroyed and taken out of an ecosystem. ~ To prevent spreading and another outbreak, it is best to plant trees that the ALHB does not prefer so they are less likely to infest it ~Insecticides are also a method of controlling and removing the ALHB, but it has its own drawbacks and affects the environment

Environmental Perspective ~The Asian long horned beetle is a growing issue with devastating effects towards our ecosystems. ~This insect chews a hole into the bark of a tree and lays eggs which then hatch into larvae. ~The larvae gnaw their way to the core of the tree, turn into pupae, and emerge as adults and dig their way out. ~They feed on the layer of woody tissue under the tree’s bark, which interrupts the transport of water and nutrients between the roots and the tree. ~In an infested zone there could be thousands of ALHB, this means that the population of this insect can wipe out whole populations of trees in certain areas very quickly

How It Affects the Ecosystem ~People will spray insecticides to get rid of the Asian long horned beetle which in turn may harm other native species and pollute the air. ~The Asian longhorn beetle influence food webs by destroying the habitats of the primary consumers thus affecting the remainder of the food web. ~The producers have a reduced number which affects the primary consumer’s food, and if the primary consumers population drops then that mean there is starvation in the rest of the food web ~The Asian long horned beetle is one of many invasive insects negatively affecting our food webs and polluting our ecosystems.

How the Asian Longhorn works

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