New York state agriculture officials say the tree-killing Asian longhorned beetle has been eradicated from Manhattan and Staten Island.
Agriculture Commissioner Darrel Aubertine said Tuesday that trees in those boroughs are now free of the beetle and wood can be moved out of previously regulated areas.
The Asian longhorned beetle tunnels into tree trunks and kills several types of trees including buckeye, willow and American elm.
The beetle was declared gone from New Jersey last month. Officials said Brooklyn, Queens and central Long Island are the only places in New York that are not beetle-free.
The insect was first detected in the U.S. in 1996. Officials say it likely arrived inside wood packing material from Asia. It has no known natural predator.
