The entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau of Taicang, Jiangsu province recently intercepted a number of longhorn beetles and dead bark beetles (Scolytidae) while detecting a batch of logs imported from Canada, Taicang Daily reported.

The longhorn beetles were identified by the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine (CAIQ) as white-spotted sawyers (monochamus scutellatus), a kind of common wood-boring beetle found throughout North America.

The beetles have been listed as high-risk non-native quarantine pests by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. They can travel over long distances by hiding in host plants and wooden packing materials and have a destructive effect on the country's forest resources and ecological security.

Taicang quarantine authority said that this was the first intercept and detection of its kind in China.