More than 700 concerned Chicagoans jammed the Lake View High School auditorium Thursday night to hear experts report on the six-legged enemy, the Asian longhorn beetle, that has invaded the trees in their North Side neighborhood.
Officials are hoping the beetle invasion is confined to the Ravenswood area, but state investigators said Thursday that a beetle found at a Buffalo Grove gas station was most likely an Asian longhorn.
Even if federal bug experts confirm the find, though, scientists stressed it does not necessarily mean the infestation has spread. They noted the bug may have accidentally hitched a ride on a vehicle bound for the northwest suburb.
At the gathering at the high school, where children outside teased each other with pretend beetle attacks, Ravenswood residents got the bad news that many of their beloved trees will have to be destroyed. But most residents continued to hope their foliage will not be among the casualties.
“We have two maples in our parkway and we have looked at them for 25 years,” said Robert O’Connor of Ravenswood. “We’d hate to lose them. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.”
While residents don’t want to see their trees destroyed, they also acknowledge the need to stop the Asian longhorn’s spread.
“We have a beautiful community,” said resident Bridget Howe. “(But) I am concerned that steps are taken to remedy the situation.”
Officials at the meeting said many maple trees, along with other varieties, will have to come down. Ironically, the maples in Ravenswood were planted 25 to 30 years ago to replace trees killed by Dutch elm disease.
At the same time, neighborhood residents got a promise from the city that trees to be cut down this fall and winter will be replaced next spring with bug-resistant tree varieties.
Residents also heard officials call on them to keep bug collectors from taking the beetles outside a quarantine zone to be established next week. A neighborhood office to coordinate the effort is to be opened next week.
Echoing some of the experts, Howe said she fears that “many people don’t really understand the gravity” of the situation.
The Asian longhorn beetle, which made its first public appearance in the area last week, arrived in this country from China and has been feasting on the shade trees in Ravenswood. The purpose of the meeting at the high school was to educate residents about the beetle, its biology and how it can destroy trees.
Officials say a 12-block area has been infested. So far, more then 50 trees have been found to be riddled with beetles or their larvae and eggs.
“A number of people are really afraid of this insect getting out into the general environment,” Kenneth Law, plant protection officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said Thursday night. “This insect does kill every tree that it gets into.”
Officials earlier in the day said the beetle found by a motorist on a gas pump in Buffalo Grove appeared to be an Asian longhorn.
“At this point, we’re calling it a regulatory incident, meaning something out of the ordinary,” said Stan Smith, entomologist for the Illinois Department of Agriculture, before Thursday’s meeting. “A lot of time we run across insects that shouldn’t be here and nothing comes of it.”
Smith added that officials are hoping the insect got there accidentally, as an inconspicuous hitchhiker. But to make sure, he said, inspectors in a few days will begin looking for signs of other beetles near the gas station.
If allowed to spread unchecked, the Asian longhorn, which has no natural predators in the United States, has the potential of destroying entire forests. This deadly possibility has officials asking citizens not to pick up or transport the beetles.
“If we are looking at Ravenswood as the only place (it exists), we’ve got a good shot of getting rid of it,” Smith said.
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MORE ON THE INTERNET: Find Tribune coverage of the Asian longhorn beetle infestation at chicagotribune.com/go/beetles
