Intensive hunting for hardwood beetle: falling in Magdeburg everywhere!

Intensive hunting for hardwood beetle: falling in Magdeburg everywhere!

Magdeburg, Deutschland - in Magdeburg is currently being used to high pressure against the Asian hardwood beetle (Alb). The State Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture Saxony-Anhalt (LLG) has reinforced the fight against the harmful beetle to protect the domestic deciduous trees. According to Welt , the measures are now in a decisive phase. Christian Wolff, Head of Head of the LLG, emphasizes that the temperature increase will soon be heralded the beetle's flight phase.

As part of the control, over 250 pheromone traps have been installed in the quarantine zone, which extends over around 50 square kilometers. These traps, which mostly attract female beetles, have been positioned on more than 250 trees and are an important monitoring tool to identify infested trees, such as Volksstimme reported. Any discovery of an alb in the trap is a signal for more intensive search for other infected breeding trees.

monitoring and control

The Magdeburg city nursery monitors the traps weekly to keep an eye on the Alb. These traps are primarily intended for surveillance, not for direct control. Monitoring is supplemented by planning strategies based on experiences since 2014 when the beetle was first spotted in the Rothensee district.

• pheromone traps for surveillance installed since the end of May 2025.
• traps are primarily female, but also males.
• the radius of action is about 100 meters.

The LLG also calls for the population for help: suspected reports can be submitted via the Alb hotline 03471/334253, and the citizens are asked not to damage or to be damaged.

The risk of the hardwood beetle

The Asian hardwood beetle is one of the most dangerous tree pests worldwide and was mostly introduced via packaging wood. This pest shows characteristic symptoms, including bark injuries with a juice flow and large oval larvae in the wood. The infestation primarily endangers domestic hardwood species, which can lead to the dying of the trees if the infestation is severe.

The LLG emphasizes that replanting affected areas with suitable trees is possible promptly. While the control measures are ratified in accordance with the EU implementing decision in 2015/893, environmental protection requirements must be observed in a confirmed Alb infestation. This includes, for example, the felling of trees within a radius of 100 meters around the affected copies.

The situation is serious, and the measures are crucial to stop the spread of this pest and to preserve domestic flora. The Alb can only be stopped by consistent monitoring and active help of the citizens.