Agency To Treat Queens Trees For Asian Longhorned Beetles

Trees in the area of western Queens and Brooklyn shaded and surrounded by a black outline on this map will be treated this spring with pesticide to combat the spread of the Asian long-horned beetle. The area includes parts of Juniper Valley Park, Mafera Park, Forest Park, Lutheran/All Faiths Cemetery and various cemeteries straddling the Brooklyn/Queens border. Hoping to stop the spread of the tree-killing Asian longhorned beetle, street trees in parts of Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Woodside and Elmhurst will be treated with insecticide beginning next month, it was announced.

Community Board 5 informed the Times Newsweekly that the Davey Tree Expert Company, under contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will inject pesticides into the trunks and/or tree pits of more than 31,000 trees in a nearly 7.5 square mile area of western Queens and Brooklyn between Monday, Apr. 5, and Saturday, June 19.

Technicians with the tree firm will apply the treatment to trees located along all streets in the treatment zone as well as trees on residential and commercial sites, wooden lots, schoolyards, government facilities and parks. Each crew member will be in uniform and carry proper identification.

Depending on how the treatment is applied, three different pesticides will be used. Those who come in contact with the substance or the pit soil of trees that have been treated are advised to clean the area thoroughly with soap and water. Pets and children should also be kept off treated areas until it is dry.

The treatment area in Queens is bounded on the north by Northern Boulevard, on the east by 82nd Street, Broadway, Queens Boulevard and Woodhaven Boulevard; on the south by Jamaica Avenue, Cypress Hills Street, Cypress Avenue, Vermont Place and the Brooklyn/Queens border; and on the west by Cooper Avenue, Wyckoff Avenue, Flushing Avenue, Metropolitan Avenue, 80th Street, the Long Island Expressway, Maurice Avenue 65th place and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

First spotted in New York City in Greenpoint in 1996, the Asian longhorned beetle generally grows to between 3/4” to 1 1/4” in length. It has a shiny black exoskeleton that features white spots and long black-andwhite striped antennae. According to the Parks Department, the adult beetles are present between May and October.

The beetles usually take up residence in hardwood trees including sugar maples, willows and elms. The damage is done when the female bugs chew oval or round pits through the barks of trunks and large branches in order to deposit a single egg in each niche, the Parks Department noted.

Signs that a tree has become infested with the Asian longhorned beetle include visible holes in the bark, oozing sap and small piles of sawdust. Once a tree becomes infested, the city must cut down the tree and have it chipped or burned to prevent the bug from spreading to other locations.

For more information on the beetle treatment, call 311 or Board 5’s Glendale office at 1-718-366-1834 during normal business hours.