Tiny fungus farming beetle from WA could wreak havoc on Sydney’s heritage trees

In Sydney, there are large populations of known hosts for the polyphagous shot-hole borer beetle, such as plane and fig trees. Photograph: Ann Hodgson/Alamy

The chief scientist of the Botanic Gardens of Sydney is warning of an imminent and deadly risk to the city’s trees posed by an invasive beetle that has led to the removal of thousands of trees in Perth.

The tiny polyphagous shot-hole borer, which is native to south-east Asia, is a “fungus farmer” that burrows into trees and can spread a fungus that kills the host tree.