Meet The Beetles

They're big. They're hungry. And they have a taste for North American hardwood trees. Can these bugs be stopped? The next few weeks may tell

With its hardened shell and oversize antennae, it looks like a cockroach with antlers. But the Asian long-horned beetle is no ordinary menace. It's a hungry tree-eating machine with no natural predators and a hankering for U.S. hardwoods-maple, poplar, birch, elm, ash, horse chestnut and willow. The first specimens came to the U.S. as stowaways in wooden packing crates from China and Hong Kong. The beetles turned up in Brooklyn, N.Y., six years ago, in Chicago two years later and in New York City's Central Park this winter, and have already destroyed thousands of trees. If they get loose in the...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!