Does the Asian Longhorned Beetle Perhaps Suffer from Allergies?

If you noticed yourself sneezing more in the past couple of days, it’s not your fault; tree pollen is atrociously high right now. The Daily News offers tips to save yourself:

• Wash your hair every night and, before entering your bedroom, change your clothes to remove pollen that collects during the day.
• At home or when driving, keep the windows closed and set the air conditioner to recirculate air to keep out pollen.
• Avoid eating apples, pears and hazelnuts (even hazelnut-flavored coffee) if you suffer from tree pollen allergies.
• If you are allergic to grass pollen (peak season is in June), avoid celery, cereal grains, melons and tomatoes.
• If you are allergic to weed pollen (peak season is in late August to September), avoid bananas, zucchini, cucumbers, echinacea and sunflower seeds.
• If you have a yard, keep grass cut short and flower beds weed free. Avoid planting junipers, Bermuda grass, ryegrass and chrysanthemums. Go for less allergy-inducing plants such as azaleas, begonias, bulbs (tulips, irises, poppies and daffodils), and palms, pines, firs and dogwoods.

Before the end of the day, I will be replacing all of the city’s trees with palms. We will be the Miami of the North.

Of course, this will be moot when the dreaded Asian Longhorned Beetle eats all the city’s trees and once and for all takes care of our allergy problems: “Beetle may kill half of city trees.”

Familiarize yourself with your allergy-alleviating comrades: USDA Plant Protection and Quarantine Asian Longhorned Beetle Backgrounder.