The eight-toothed spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) is a serious pest of spruce trees in Europe and was first found in England on Norway spruce in woodland in Kent as part of routine plant health surveillance activity in 2018. Further populations have since been found in woodlands in West Sussex, East Sussex, Surrey and Kent, though these don’t appear to relate to the original outbreak site. The beetle is currently subject to eradication measures in the south of England. Although spruce trees are not a major component of woodlands in lowland England, they are important for the forestry industry elsewhere, making up around 50% of commercial planting in the UK and supporting thousands of jobs. It is vital that the beetle is prevented from establishing to protect this wider industry.