[2] This beetle has invaded several countries in Europe, including Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, France, Germany, and Croatia.
[2] Infestations by the beetle can kill many different types of hardwood trees including Citrus, pecan, apple, Australian pine, Hibiscus, sycamore, willow, pear, mulberry, chinaberry, poplar, Litchi, kumquat, Japanese red cedar, oak, and Ficus.
[4] The beetle was later discovered in August of 2001, at a Tukwila, Washington nursery near Seattle in a shipment from Korea of 369 bonsai maple trees.
However, when the bonsai trees were dissected, eight larvae exit tunnels were found, indicating that five more might have escaped into the surrounding community.
Officials concerned with the potential for spread asked residents in the region not to move firewood,[5] even in areas with no known infestations.
In China, the preferred temperatures are approximately 3 °C-7 °C lower than another subspecies in Italy for optimal growth and development.
Once citrus long-horned beetles reach the adult stage, they are classified as pre-adults and take about 1-2 weeks to mature.
[9] Female citrus long-horned beetle lay and deposit individual eggs in tree bark.
The citrus longhorn beetle bores deeper into the tree and feeds on the xylem in later larval stages.
Adult Anoplophora chinensis are polyphagous, meaning that they infest and eat a wide variety of plants.
Using a best-fitting nucleotide substitution model, researchers ran over two million generations to find convergence points.
Given the current climate change crisis, the infestation of these beetles has economic implications for many countries, particularly where Anoplophora chinensis is invasive.
[8] The parasitic behavior of Anoplophora chinensis, along with the fact that it has now been introduced into several additional continents like Europe and North America, has led to damage in fruit tree plantations, resulting in substantial economic loss.
[14] The citrus long-horned beetle has been further implicated in parasitic behavior as seen in their disruption of the vascular tissue of trees.
[15] Researchers in one study collected several adult and larval citrus long-horned beetles from which molecular analyses and physiological traits could be measured.
In France in 2003, 2 infected Acer platanoides trees near a bonsai greenhouse were found with 11 exit holes and 5 adult beetles.
[16] In Croatia in 2007, exit holes in Lagerstroemia and Acer palmatum in greenhouses indicated an invasion by Citrus long-horned beetles.
[16] In Rome, Italy, in 2008, 15 adults and 48 exit holes were discovered in 7 Acer negundo trees and 5 Aesculus hippocastanum.
Unlike in Italy, the beetles in the Netherlands produced no frass, which could be attributed to less active larvae due to the cooler climate.
[16] The cooler climate can cause the Citrus long-horned beetle to develop slower, increasing the chances of eradication.
Additionally, a cool climate can lead to a lower reproduction rate; 28 larvae and 24 exit holes found in the Westland region of the Netherlands suggests difficulty in starting a 2nd generation along with spreading.
[16] Olfaction, particularly the chemosensory receptors of Anoplophora chinensis, contribute to reproduction by influencing mate recognition and locating oviposition sites.