Killer beetle in sculpture

The Royal Academy may have accidentally imported Asian longhorn beetles into Britain.

The pests, which can kill many types of tree, may have been in a sculpture by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, according to the government’s chief plant officer.

Professor Nicola Spence said she had been visiting the sculpture, Tree, which was on display in the Annenberg Courtyard of the Royal Academy in London in 2015, when she noticed beetles had made holes in the wooden structure.