i5K: Asian long-horned beetle

Asian long-horned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis)

i5k: The Asian Longhorned Beetle Genome: Acollaboration with the 5000 genome project.
Asian long-horned beetle

Asian long-horned beetle

Image source:
U.S Fish & Wildlife Service, Wikimedia Commons

Links

BCM-HGSC data

Contact: Duane McKenna

Researchers involved: 500
Size (or size of nearest relative): 981 MBp

Keywords (and why important): Evolutionary branching, (agriculture, ecosystem function, systematics).

The Asian long-horned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) (ALB) is an invasive pest from Asia that came to Canada, the United States and Europe concealed in solid wood packing material.

It is a serious threat to deciduous hardwood trees in urban, suburban, and forested parts of the country. Larvae bore into a tree's heartwood, damaging and eventually killing the tree. If it became widely established in North America (it is already established locally), it could be one of the most destructive and costly invasive species ever (USDA Program Aid No.1655). This is target of current USDA eradication efforts.

These beetles are large (1-1.5 inches), and one beetle can provide more than 10 micrograms of DNA. Specimens in North America are all relatively closely related. Suitable specimens are available for sequencing.