BALTIMORE, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials say they've intercepted an invasive wood-boring insect pest in a shipment of Italian tiles at the Port of Baltimore.
The discovery of the insect, Stenopterapion tenue, was the 10th time since 2005 the pest has been found in cargo shipped to U.S. ports, The Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday.
A wood-boring weevil found in Europe, S. tenue was identified by a U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist last week.
"We don't know much about this particular species of weevil," David Ng, CBP Agriculture supervisor for the port, said. "But we do know that it isn't indigenous to the United States, and if left unchecked could have a profound impact on America's crop plant industries."
Authorities ordered the importer of the tiles to fumigate the shipping container and its contents.
