The UK’s very first outbreak of the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle has been detected
The UK’s very first outbreak of the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle has been detected along with a warning the brightly-coloured creepy crawlies love nothing more than to munch on spruce, pine and fur Christmas trees. The beetles have been detected at a number of unnamed locations in Ashford, Kent, with woodland managers, land owners, the forest industry and tree nurseries being urged to be vigilant. Nicola Spence, the UK Chief Plant Health Officer, said: “An outbreak of the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle in an area of woodland in Kent has been confirmed. “We are taking swift and robust action to limit the spread of this outbreak as part of our well-established biosecurity protocol used for tree pests and diseases.”
She added: “'I encourage anyone who suspects a sighting of the bark beetle to report these to the Forestry Commission on the Tree Alert portal.”
The outbreak was first spotted by the Forestry Commission during routine checks.
Though the pests pose no risk to human health, they can destroy Christmas trees across Europe, though typically they prefer damaged and weakened ones as opposed to the healthier ones lit up in people’s houses during the festive season.
The breed of beetle has never once been discovered in the UK before, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Surveillance and further investigations are taking place in an attempt to control the outbreak.
Adult beetles will be hibernating and dormant this time of year. A Woodland Trust spokesman said: “The spruce bark beetle is not a threat to human health but is a serious threat to spruce trees and can also affect pines and firs, which is of course worrying.
“At least 19 pests and diseases are now attacking UK trees; six have reached epidemic levels, posing a real threat with the potential to eradicate wildlife habitat, change the landscape significantly and impact on the economy of the UK forest and timber sectors.
“Our changing climate and increasing globalisation all increase the risk and more work needs to be done to improve biosecurity measures to prevent new pests and diseases arriving into the country.”
It is unknown what country the beetles came from and how.