Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetle (Tetropium fuscum)
French common name: Longicorne brun de l'épinettea

Photo credit: Jon Sweeney, Natural Resources Canada, Bugwood.org

Brown Spruce Beetle

Klaus Bolte, Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service

Order: Coleoptera
Family: Cerambycidae

The brown spruce longhorn beetle (Tetropium fuscum (Fabricius); BSLB) is native to northern and central Europe, western Siberia and Japan (CFIA, 2016). BSLB was likely introduced to North America on ships transporting wood packaging from Europe, and it was first discovered in 1999 in Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia. The beetle is now found in the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (CFIA, 2016).

The BSLB attack healthy white, black, red, and Norway spruce trees in Canada (CFIA, 2016), but prefers and performs better in stressed, dying and wind fallen spruce (Flaherty et al. 2011, 2013 a,b). Mature, larger diameter spruce trees (>10 cm dbh, diameter at breast height) are more commonly infested (Nelson et al. 2017).  BSLB has the potential to spread throughout the range of spruce in Canada where it threatens spruce forests undergoing stress due to drought, defoliators, and wind damage, and could impact the wood products industry. Since 2000, the CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) has regulated the importation and movement of spruce wood products to limit the spread of BSLB from infested areas.

Fact Sheets

Best Management Practices

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Research

Research update on the brown spruce longhorn beetle, Tetropium fuscum (Fabr.)

J SweeneyP Silk, D Pureswaran, L Flaherty… – In: McManus, Katherine …, 2009 – fs.usda.gov
A 3-year research project, funded by the Canadian Forest Service and the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency, was initiated in the spring of 2007 to address key issues of provincial
and forest industry stakeholders concerning the brown spruce longhorn beetle, Tetropium
fuscum (Fabr.)(Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Tetropium fuscum is an invasive wood boring
beetle from Europe that has been established in Halifax, Nova Scotia since at least 1990.
The project is focused on the development of practical tools and knowledge for risk …
 

[PDF] The brown spruce longhorn beetle in Halifax: Pest status and preliminary results of research

J Sweeney, G Smith, JE Hurley, K Harrison… – Proceedings of the US …, 2001 – fs.usda.gov
In March 2000, it was determined that the brown spruce longhorn beetle (Tetropiumfuscum
Fabr.)(Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), a native· of Central Europe and parts of Asia, had
become established in Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia, where it was killing red …
 

Update on survey and eradication of the brown spruce longhorn beetle, and summary of recent research

G Henry, J Sweeney, W MacKay, R Hamelin… – In: Gottschalk, Kurt W …, 2005 – fs.usda.gov
Highlights of some recent research on the biology, survey, and control of the BSLB were
presented. Two North American species of parasitic wasps (one braconid, one
ichneumonid) that commonly parasitize the native Tetropium cinnamopterum have also …
 

Can the exotic brown spruce longhorn beetle, Tetropium fuscum, successfully colonize healthy trees in Canada?

L Flaherty, J Sweeney, D Pureswaran – 2009 – nrs.fs.fed.us
The exotic brown spruce longhorn beetle, Tetropium fuscum (Fabr.),(Coleoptera:
Cerambycidae) was discovered emerging from red spruce, Picea rubens Sarg., in Halifax,
Nova Scotia in 1999. It is likely that T. fuscum has been established in the Halifax area for …

Current Research and Knowledge Gaps

Further Reading

The Invasive Species Centre aims to connect stakeholders. The following information below link to resources that have been created by external organizations.