The Daily Freeman reports that New York's Department of Environmental Conservation is looking for pool owners to participate in its Asian Longhorned Beetle Swimming Pool Survey. “The best opportunity to eradicate and limit the spread of invasive species is by finding infestations early, when populations are low,” DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said in a statement. “Swimming pool monitoring is a simple, economical approach to surveying for these pests and gives New Yorkers the chance to take an active role in protecting their communities.” Asian long-horned beetles are invasive pests that cause serious damage to the state’s trees. So the DEC is asking pool owners to periodically check their filters for insects that resemble the beetles and report suspects either by emailing photos to foresthealth@dec.ny.gov or mailing insects to the DEC’s Forest Health Diagnostics Lab, 108 Game Farm Road, Delmar, N.Y. 12054, Attn.: Liam Somers. The invasive pest is:
• Is about 1.5 inches long, black with white spots, with black and white antennae.
• Leaves perfectly round exit holes about the size of a dime in branches and trunks of host trees.
• Creates sawdust-like material called frass that collects on branches and around the bases of trees.
The wood-boring beetles attack hardwood trees, including maples, birches and willows, among others, and have caused the death of hundreds of thousands of trees across the country, the DEC said. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.