Lab Notes: The tiny beetle ravaging Perth's trees
Jun 17, 2025•15 min
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Episode description
It's the size of a sesame seed, but it could cause unfathomable destruction to Australia's forests and urban canopy.
A beetle called the polyphagous shot-hole borer (Euwallacea fornicatus) is silently spreading through Perth and its surrounds, forcing councils to chop and chip hundreds of trees — even century-old Moreton Bay figs.
So how does the tiny pest cause such massive problems?
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