Invasive Species | Forest Pests

Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetle

Photo: Jon Sweeney, Natural Resources Canada

Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetle

(Tetropium fuscum)

French common name: le longicorne brun de l'épinette

Native to Europe, this invasive forest pest infests and can eventually kill spruce trees including red, white, black, and Norway. It has been found in populations around Calhoun, New Brunswick, but was first identified in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1999. Likely introduced through infested wood packaging, these beetles lay eggs under the bark scales and in crevices of spruce trees. These eggs become larvae that bore holes into the live bark, and spruce trees to respond to this attack by producing a large amount of tree resin which flows out of these holes and down the tree. Large amounts of resin coming from holes in spruce bark can indicate BSLB infestation; the more resin, the more severe the attack.

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Characteristics

Eggs: Eggs are around 1mm long and possess an oblong shape. Color is white with a very slight green tinge and minor translucency.
Larvae: Small white larvae which bear a white color with minor yellow tinges and a brown head. Usually 1-30mm in length.
Pupae: Pupae are usually smaller then larvae with a length of 10-17mm. Coloring remains almost exclusively white with minor yellow tinges.
Adult: Darkly colored beetle displaying shades of brown to red. Head, legs, and antennae are a darker shade than the elytra which are notably lighter on the section closed to the head and darker in more posterior areas. Beetles appear relatively flat and measure (0.8-1.8) cm long.