State College, Pennsylvania – Hikers climbing Mount Nittany and students walking beneath shaded paths on Penn State’s campus are being urged to act immediately if they spot a destructive invasive beetle capable of killing hardwood trees across Centre County this spring.
According to the U.S. Forest Service and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the Asian longhorned beetle attacks maple, birch, willow, poplar and elm trees. Officials warn the insect burrows deep into trunks, cutting off nutrients and weakening trees long before visible dieback appears.
Mount Nittany, Rothrock State Forest and Spring Creek Park feature dense stands of mature maples and other hardwoods that define the region’s landscape. Similar tree cover shades the Penn State Arboretum and neighborhoods stretching toward Bellefonte and Boalsburg.
The beetle is glossy black with bright white spots and long black-and-white banded antennae that extend beyond its body. Visitors may notice perfectly round exit holes in trunks or sawdust-like material collecting at the base of trees.
If infestations spread, weakened limbs could snap during strong spring wind events common in central Pennsylvania, creating hazards along wooded trails and park roads.
Officials urge residents, students and park visitors to kill the beetle on sight if safely possible and report sightings immediately to state agriculture authorities. Early detection this season could prevent widespread tree removal and protect State College’s mountain and campus canopy into summer.
