Nasty Pine-Eating Beetle Invades NJ
[AP 2006-01-03]

TRENTON, NJ-January 3, 2006 - A beetle that likes to chew on pine trees has been found in parts of northern New Jersey.

Officials have found the pine shoot beetle in Bergen, Hunterdon, Passaic, Sussex and Warren counties.

The beetle targets new shoots of pine trees or diseased pines. The insect will feed on any type of pine tree, but prefers Scotch pine.

New Jersey's Department of Agriculture is implementing a quarantine, designed to stop the beetles from spreading across the state.

Since pines aren't too popular as Christmas trees in New Jersey, it isn't expected to affect Christmas tree farms much. But wholesale tree growers are monitoring the situation.

Carl Nordstrom, from the New Jersey Nursery and Landscape Association said the pine shoot beetle isn't as destructive as the Asian long-horned beetle, but is a worry.