A highly invasive wood-boring beetle was intercepted last month by U.S. border agents before it could damage forests and ecosystems, Customs and Border Protection announced Monday.

A recent report of damage to imported bamboo furniture turned up beetles that had been boring galleries in the wood.

“The beetles do make a difference,” says Hans Cornelissen at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Researchers already knew that, by killing trees, insect infestations in forests ...