The USDA issued an alert for help in identifying hardwood-killing Asian longhorn beetles. Expected to begin hatching this month, the longhorn beetles are already responsible for killing 69,000 U.S. trees, says USDA.

Government agencies in Canada and the Sate of Pennsylvania recently ratcheted up the battle against another hardwood pest - the Emerald Ash Borer - as it expanded its presence in Pennsylvania and sightings were confirmed in Quebec and Ontario provinces in Canada.

USDA says federal, state and local partners are currently working to eradicate active Asian longhorned beetle infestations in Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, while declaring success in locations in Illinois and Hudson County, NJ.

The longhorn beetle likes a wide range of hardwoods: maple trees, ash, birch, elm, European mountain ash, hackberry, horsechestnut, katsura, London plane tree, mimosa, poplar and willow. The Emerald Ash Borer is partial to ash, oak, maple and hickory. In both cases, quarantines can limit transport of cut woods and wood chips of all types.

"July is the time of year when adult beetles are emerging from a winter spent growing and developing deep inside the hardwood tree they’ve infested,” says Christine Markham, national director of the Asian longhorned beetle cooperative eradication program, asking for supporting in monitoring "hardwood trees and surrounding areas for this destructive pest.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is charged with managing prevention efforts.