Reduce Risks from Invasive Species Coalition » Insects

Glassy-Winged Sharp Shooter

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2014 16:30:00 +0000

The glassy-winged sharpshooter (Scientific name: Homalodisca vitripennis) is an insect native to north-east Mexico and the southeastern United States. The sharpshooter is invasive in California, Hawaii, and the agriculturally productive areas of the southwestern United States. Though the sharpshooter is an agricultural pest in its own right, it also acts as a vector for a serious agricultural threat, Pierce’s disease, which could seriously damage the West Coast wine industry. As the primary vector of Pierce’s disease, control of the glassy-winged sharpshooter is critical to protect West Coast agriculture.

Glassy-winged sharpshooters eat a large variety of plants, but they prefer economically significant grape vines, citrus, and almond trees. Sharpshooters lay their eggs on the underside of leaves, and when the eggs hatch, the nymphs feed on the host plant’s vascular system.

Extremely localized application of pesticides may be used to control pockets of infestation. Controlled release of a specific wasp species has been shown to eliminate infestation of egg clutches. Bacteria and viruses that are natural enemies of the glassy-winged sharpshooter may be cultivated and applied to colonies.

Asian Longhorned beetle

rriscmockup — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 16:39:31 +0000

The Asian Longhorned beetle (scientific name: Anoplophora glabripennis) entered the United States in 1996 in New York City in contaminated packaging material from China. It has now spread beyond New York State to New Jersey, Massachusetts and Ohio, often through transportation of infected firewood. It attacks maple trees and other hardwood trees, and is a serious threat to northeastern forest ecosystems, as well as the timber and maple sugar/syrup industry. The vicinity of Worcester, Massachusetts is the hardest hit area in the northeast, with 34,000 trees having to be cut down to combat the beetle.

**For further reading on invasive beetles, please see this article…

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/30/nyregion/thousands-of-trees-will-fall-in-a-renewed-battle-to-stop-a-beetle.html?_r=0

Emerald Ash Borer

rriscmockup — Sun, 22 Jun 2014 17:00:28 +0000

The Emerald Ash Borer (scientific name: Agrilus planipenni) was introduced accidentally into Michigan in packing material from Asia in 2002. It has infested forests in the Midwest, New England, and Southeastern states, and is moving into the Great Plains. It is a serious threat to forests in general, and is particularly damaging to ash trees.

The USDA estimates the beetle has already killed tens of millions of ash trees, especially in the Midwest, including Illinois; Chicago may have to remove as many as 10,000 trees in a a fight against the Emerald Ash Borer.

“Ninety-nine percent of the ashes in North America are probably going to die,” said Andrew M. Liebhold, a research entomologist with the United States Forest Service. To tackle the emerald ash borers, scientists have experimented with chemical traps. More recently, scientists in New Hampshire have experimented with bringing Oobius agrili, a type of parasitic wasp, into the borer’s habitat. The wasps burrow into trees and eat borers and their eggs.

The emerald ash borers’ effect may not be as dire as Dr. Liebhold predicts. Dr. McCullough, the entomologist at Michigan State, noted that the bugs’ conquest varied by tree species and location. Of the four major species, black ash and green ash are probably lost, but the beetles kill only 60 percent to 70 percent of blue ash. White ash falls somewhere in between.

West Nile Virus

rriscmockup — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 12:54:49 +0000

Primarily an avian disease, West Nile Virus is native to Africa. It entered the United States in 1999, most likely through an infected international traveler. The virus subsequently was transmitted by birds that had been bitten by mosquitos infected with the virus, including the aggressive and invasive Asian Tiger Mosquito. After doing severe damage to some North American bird populations, the virus also spread from infected birds to humans and other domestic and wild mammals across the country. By 2012, more than 1,500 Americans had been killed by West Nile virus, and more than 37,000 had been diagnosed with the disease.