Asian Longhorned Beetle

The infestation of Asian Longhorned Beetle has now reached Boston.

Environmental Secretery Ian Bowles and Mayor Tom Menino announced Tuesday that the beetles were found in six trees on the grounds of Faulkner Hospital, just steps from the Arnold Arboritum.

Over the weekend, federal officials from the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed the presence of the invasive beetles in Jamaica Plain.

The Asian longhorned beetle is believed to have come to this country from China several years ago. The beetles bore into the heartwood of a host tree, eventually killing the tree.

The beetle infestation had been contained largely to Central Massachusetts and in the Worcester area hundreds of trees had to be cut down.