Maryland Department of Agriculture

Updated: October 7, 2010

In cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) has operated an insect trapping network for the pine shoot beetle (Tomicus piniperda) for the past decade. Based on 2010 results, this introduced pest of Pinus from Europe has newly been detected in Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, and Howard counties, which now join Garrett, Allegany, Washington, Frederick, and Montgomery counties under standing state and federal quarantines for pine shoot beetle. Since the initial U.S. detection in Ohio in 1992, this small bark beetle now occurs in 17 states including Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia.

Federal and state quarantine regulations require the inspection of cut pine Christmas trees, pine nursery stock, pine logs, stumps, and lumber with bark attached, and pine bark mulch before these regulated articles can move out of quarantined areas. A federal permit is required for interstate movement. Lumber and logs without bark attached are not regulated. Additional guidance, including the quarantine order and maps, can be found on the right side of this page to help facilitate the lawful movement of plant material under the provisions of the quarantine.

Pine shoot beetle attacks the new pine shoots through its feeding and egg laying, and can cause serious decline of entire stands of trees. Adult beetles are 3 to 5 mm long, or about the size of a match head. They are brown or black and cylindrical. The legless larvae are about 5 mm long with a white body and brown head. There is one generation per year in Maryland with the adults overwintering within the tree and emerging in the early spring.

For more information regarding the Maryland Pine Shoot Beetle Program and movement of regulated articles within Maryland, contact the Maryland Department of Agriculture - Plant Protection and Weed Management Section, 410.841.5920.

For information regarding the USDA Pine Shoot Beetle Program and interstate movement of regulated articles, contact the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) office in Baltimore, 410.631.0073.