According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture
, this black and white beetle "has the potential to cause more damage than Dutch elm disease, chestnut blight, and gypsy moths combined, destroying millions of acres of America's treasured hardwoods, including national forests and backyard trees." Native to China and the Korea peninsula, the bug was first discovered in the U.S. in New York in 1996. It has since been detected in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Ohio, where it has cultivated a taste for maple trees and other hardwoods such as elm, birch, and willow. Transportation of untreated wood is the main way this beetle spreads, and no effective control measures exist.