May 25, 2016 by David Pitt
Millions of tiny wasps that are
natural parasites for the emerald ash borer have been released into wooded
areas in 24 states as the battle against the tree-killing borer is now
biological.
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture has researched and approved for release four species of parasitic wasps that naturally target the
larval and egg stages of the ash borer, which has killed an estimated 38
million ash trees in urban and residential areas. The estimated cost of treating,
removing, and replacing the lost trees is $25 billion, according to a report
written by USDA and U.S. Forest Service entomologists earlier this month.
On average, federal and state
resource managers spend more than $29 million per year to manage ash borer
populations.
The tiniest of the wasps looks
like a pepper flake on a white surface. It lays eggs inside ash borer eggs,
preventing them from hatching. Three other wasps, one the size of a gnat, lays
eggs inside ash borer larvae halting development into adult beetles.
They were identified in China in
2002 and studied for several years before scientists concluded they could be
safety released in the United States to fight the ash borer.
The wasp release program is in 24
of the 26 states where the ash borer has been found, said entomologist Ben
Slager, the manager of the laboratory in Brighton, Michigan, producing the
wasps run by the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a USDA
agency. Plans are to also distribute wasps to Texas and Georgia, the final two
states not yet in the program.
"This isn't going to save
anybody's tree in their yard or in the city. What we're working to do is to
protect the next generation coming up," Slager said Tuesday. "It's
really a long-term management strategy."
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!