Imidacloprid is used in the United States to eradicate the Asian longhorned beetle

The Asian longhorned beetle’s (ALB) recent introduction to the United States is a serious threat to hardwood trees. This beetle has no known natural predator in the United States and 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. Recently the insecticide Imidacloprid has presented good results in field applications and is increasingly being used in conjunction with other methods to protect trees and eradicate the pest. The citrus longhorned beetle (CLB), a very close relative of ALB, is a severe pest of citrus, but it also attacks most of the same tree species attacked by ALB. Unlike ALB, however, CLB typically attacks its host in the lower 0.5 metres of the trunk, around the root collar and on exposed roots. Therefore, CLB quickly girdles and kills its hosts. While CLB is also native to Asia (e.g. China, Japan), it has been intercepted twice in the USA (once on bonsai) and in a number of locations in Europe. More alarming are the new CLB infestations found in the Netherlands in 2007 and in Germany in 2008. Furthermore, the first CLB infestation found in Europe, specifically in northern Italy, has continued to expand in the past few years.

The US Department of Agriculture – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) began quarantine and eradication campaigns after the pest was first found in the USA in 1996. The eradication programme being implemented by APHIS and its cooperators hinges on several elements: rapidly delimiting new infestations, imposing quarantine, and implementing control measures within the quarantine zone.When ALB is reported, intensive visual inspections are conducted throughout the neighbourhood to delimit the infestation. Infested trees and those species considered to be at high-risk of attack within a radius of 400 metres from the edge of the known infestation (the distance varies with locality) are felled and chipped. High-risk trees within a radius of a second 400 metres are also either removed and chipped or injected with a systemic insecticide. APHIS and US Forest Service scientists and their collaborators have developed a method of using the systemic insecticide, imidacloprid, which has been shown to kill adult beetles while feeding on twigs and leaves, thereby helping to contain the spread of the beetle. The infested area is re-surveyed at least once a year for the next five years after beetles are found.
Sources:
United States Department of Agriculture, Factsheet on Asian longhorned beetle (2001), attached
Michael T. Smith and Jinquan Wu, International Pest Control, November/December 2008, pp 311-16, attached