Alert as tree-eating beetle gnaws its way into Britain

A tiny, tree-eating beetle appears to have started breeding in Britain, threatening millions of pounds worth of damage to the nation's commercial timber plantations, writes Nicholas Schoon.

For decades the Government's Forestry Commission has been keeping careful watch for the spruce bark beetle. Every imported consignment of timber either has to be stripped of its bark or have been heated in a kiln before it is allowed in Britain, and inspectors check for signs of the insect at ports.

Now, for the first time, there is evidence that the beetle has crossed from the Continent and established itself here. Twenty of them were found in an early warning trap located close to the Shotton Paper mill near Chester. The traps, dotted around the country, contain a chemical - pheromone - which the beetles find irresistible.

Forestry Commission officials believe these insects came from the mill's stockpile of logs, which come from forests across Britain to provide raw material to make newsprint.

The commission is now checking every forest which provided timber for the mill, to find out if the beetle is present. If they are found, then large numbers of trees will have to be cut down - "sanitation felling" - to prevent the insect's spread. At the end of the summer the 5mm-long creature can disperse by flying.

The beetle's favourite tree is the Norway spruce, which makes up about 8 per cent of commercial timber in Britain, and is a pest from Japan across Asia to Western Europe.

"It is a very real threat," said Roddie Burgess, the commission's head of plant health. "Left unchecked, it can kill significant numbers of trees fairly quickly."