Westborough – As part of working on the Cadette Girl Scouts Tree Badge, the Girl Scouts of Troop 30859 participated in a program run by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources in conjunction with the United States Department of Agriculture to learn about the Asian Longhorned Beetle.
The Asian Longhorned Beetle is an invasive species brought over from China. It kills hardwood trees, including elms, horsechestunut, willows and its favorite tree, the maple. Trees which have been infected by the beetle are cut down and the wood destroyed.
During the program, the girls learned where the beetle originated, how it came to the United States, how to properly identify an Asian Longhorned Beetle, how to recognize a tree damaged by the beetle and how to correctly report a sighting of the Asian Longhorned Beetle.
