'Dangerous and invasive' Khapra beetle intercepted at Pearson

Thestar.com
Aug. 25, 2015
By Laurent Bastien Corbeil

The Pan Am Games are over, but Toronto is still attracting travellers from around the world - some with more legs than others.

U.S border agents at the airport said Tuesday they found a large quantity of Khapra beetles, considered one of the world’s most destructive stored-product pests, in a plastic bag of dried beans.

The bag had been checked in by a passenger from Somalia and was on its way to Atlanta before being intercepted by U.S authorities.

The oval Khapra beetle, about 1.6-3 mm long, is particularly dangerous because, unlike other invasive species, it feeds on healthy grains. And once the insect buries itself inside a shipment, it becomes a haven for bacteria.

In the more severe cases, infested seeds can lose up to 70 per cent of their weight.

“They are difficult to control once they are established somewhere because they will attack any kind of stored product,” said Stephanie Boucher, an entomologist at McGill University. Wheat, barley, rice, flower, pasta and even chocolate, she said, are all seen as food by the beetle.

While eating a single Khapra beetle won’t poison you, ingesting a large quantity of them could chafe your stomach lining, Boucher said. The bugs are covered with sharp, reddish-brown hairs.

The beetle, native to India, is also incredibly hard to kill. In California, where the species was first spotted in 1953, it took 13 years and $15 million to eradicate the bug. Many types of insecticide won’t have any effect, and the beetle can hide easily by burying itself in damaged grains.

“They are a major pest causing great loss of product,” Boucher said. “They will damage the grain, they will accelerate the mold and bacteria infestation. There are many parts of the world where they are stuck with this pest.”

The Khapra beetle is currently not established in Canada. But the Canadian Food Inspection Agency warns that, if introduced, the insect could have "severe adverse effects on our grain and oilseed industries."

According to American border officials, the seized bag was shipped to agriculture specialists in Boston and then returned to Canada, where it was incinerated.

OTHER PROBLEM BEETLES

Asian longhorned beetle

Since its introduction to the U.S. in the 1990s, this beetle has destroyed tens of thousands of trees across North America by feeding on their bark and digging deep into the core. The beetles are indiscriminate, targeting both healthy and stressed trees. Like the Khapra beetle, this is considered one of the world’s worst invasive species.

The beetle appeared in the GTA, was briefly eradicated but reappeared as recently as 2013. An infestation in the GTA could amount to a $702 million loss, a 2011 study said.

Emerald ash borer

In the U.S., the emerald ash borer has destroyed millions of trees, devastating whole forests. The larvae kill a tree by disrupting its ability to transport water and nutrients. GTA municipalities are currently fighting a massive infestation, treating some ash trees and cutting thousands of others too far gone to be saved. Toronto expects most of its 860,000 ash trees will die.

Lily leaf beetle

For the past 20 years, the lily leaf beetle has been a source of headaches for gardeners across eastern Canada. Known for its insatiable appetite, this invasive species will feast on any type of lily. While the species has been seen spreading westward in the past few years, it is still considered a real nuisance