While Customs officers are busy monitoring ports for illegal immigrants, some dangerous exotic pests could be sneaking into this country unknown to them. Some longhorn beetles, bark beetles and Pissodes weevils have already been detected in wooden crates at ports by some eagle-eyed Customs officers, and have found themselves returning to their homelands as fast as they arrived.
These pests pose serious danger to trees and are to be found lurking in wooden packing crates from all over the world, but particularly from China, Canada, Japan, Korea and the US.
Some years ago the dangerous pests were discovered in the packing material for tractors from Belarus. More recently, packing material around structural steel, fireplaces and garden ornaments provided homes for them.
The Forest Service is particularly anxious to keep out the pinewood nematode. This is a tiny worm which uses the long-horn beetle as a carrier.
One beetle can carry thousands of these eelworms, which are invisible to the eye. The worms bore into pine trees and block their plumbing, eventually causing the trees to wilt and die.
"These nematodes are an unknown quantity and could damage more than pine trees," said a Forest Service spokesman. This worm's arrival in Portugal last year led to the introduction of emergency EU legislation to prevent its spread.
The Asian longhorn beetle attacks broadleaf trees such as sycamore, poplar, willow and horse chestnut. These beetles had developed a habit of attacking street trees in New York before a zero-tolerance blitz removed them.
To avoid an infestation of these exotic pests, Ireland has banned the importation from all countries of untreated conifer wood with its bark attached. Customs officers are on the alert and are looking for warning signs, which include insect holes of more than 3mm in size and a moisture content of more than 20 per cent in the packing material.
