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Lab Notes: The tiny beetle ravaging Perth's trees

Lab Notes: The tiny beetle ravaging Perth's trees

It's the size of a sesame seed, but it could cause unfathomable destruction to Australia's forests and urban canopy. A beetle called the polyphagous shot-hole borer (Euwallacea fornicatus) is silently spreading through Perth and its surrounds, forcing councils to chop and chip hundreds of trees — even century-old Moreton Bay figs. So how does the tiny pest cause such massive problems?

The Science Show · Australian Broadcasting Corporation

June 17, 202514m 49s

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Show Notes

It's the size of a sesame seed, but it could cause unfathomable destruction to Australia's forests and urban canopy.

A beetle called the polyphagous shot-hole borer (Euwallacea fornicatus) is silently spreading through Perth and its surrounds, forcing councils to chop and chip hundreds of trees — even century-old Moreton Bay figs.

So how does the tiny pest cause such massive problems?

Topics

Theordore EvansUniversity of Western AustraliaKings ParkHyde ParkPolyphagous shot hole borerLab NotesBelinda Smithmoreton bay fig trees