August 25, 2008 City steps up battle against beetle invasion Play video

(Brad Puffer, NECN: Worcester, MA) - The city of Worcester is stepping up its fight against an invasion of beetles. The species has the potential to wipe out trees wherever it goes.

City Manager Michael O'Brien says the process is expected to take about three weeks.

Six two-person teams will check every susceptible hardwood tree in the Greendale and Great Brook Valley neighborhoods.

The black and white insects, native to China, bore dime-sized holes in hardwood trees, eventually killing them.

Worcester is just the fourth area in the country where they have been found. Experts think the insects arrived in the U.S. In shipping pallets from China.

Material from the Associated Press is included in this report.