Officials in New Jersey have found that pine shoot beetle has migrated to northern parts of the state, including Bergen, Hunterdon, Passaic, Sussex and Warren counties. The beetle prefers Scotch Pines, which had been a popular Christmas tree variety in years past.
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According to James Lashomb, extension specialist at Rutgers Univeristy Cooperative Extension, the pine shoot beetle attacks the tips of host trees causing deformities in height and diameter. Adults usually enter shoots (one beetle per shoot) in one-year-old growth and cause discoloration and stunting of tree growth. The New Jersey Department of Agriculture adds that pine shoot beetles also might attack stressed pine trees by breeding under the bark at the base of the trees. The beetles can cause a severe decline in the health of the trees, possibly killing trees where high populations exist.
This is the first time the beetle has been found in New Jersey, though Lashomb notes that the state of New York has been aggressively quarantining the beetle as it moved across the state. New Jersey also has implemented a quarantine designed to stop the beetles from spreading further.
As the holiday season passes, and as fewer Christmas tree growers turn to Scotch Pines as a preferred variety, the beetle is not expected to have too much of an effect on Christmas tree farms. However, the beetle may feed on any variety of pine and wholesale growers are monitoring the situation.
For more information, visit the pine shoot beetle page on the New Jersey Department of Agriculture Web site.