[5] This beetle is native to Asia, and has spread to other parts of the world as an invasive species in Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania.

[5] It was first reported in the southeastern United States in 1974, had reached Costa Rica by 1996, Panama by 2003, and Guatemala and northern Brazil by 2008.

It appeared in Argentina in 2001, nearly a decade before it was detected in southern Brazil and Uruguay; as the latter two countries were vigilant, with long-term trapping programmes, the Argentine collection may represent a direct introduction from a non-American source, with the insects later spreading northwards up the coast.

It has been shown that the beetle is attracted to the smell of this fungus, which may concentrate attacks on specific trees.

[6] In the United States, trees and shrubs infested include oak, cherry and crape myrtle, as well as pecan, peach, plum, persimmon, elm, sweet gum, magnolia, fig, buckeye and sweet potato.