Here’s how to detect this beasty from the East

According to retired Port Elizabethan horticulturist Chris Hay, in the 9 July edition of The Herald, this is how you could look out for the polyphagous shothole borer beetle (PSHB):

1. Check your trees regularly and have a match handy. “PSHB holes go right through the bark into the trunk. They’re big enough so you can twiddle a match in them without the head of the match fitting in,” Hay told The Herald. If the match goes no further than the bark layer, then it’s a bark borer beetle and no cause for concern.

2. Depending on the kind of tree, PSHBinfected areas are also characterised by stains of resin that ooze out and tiny fountains of sawdust.

3. One way to try to guard against spreading PSHB, Hay points out, is to avoid moving firewood from area to area.

4. The only way to deal with an infected tree, which could contain tens of thousands of beetles, is to burn it, Hay says.

5. Sanparks urges Knysna residents and members of the public to report possible infestations. You can send any queries you have or possible reports, to graham. durrheim@sanparks.org, or jessica.hayes@ sanparks.org.

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