PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 20, 2012
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Dr. Louis A. Magnarelli, Ph.D., Director
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
123 Huntington Street (zip 06511)
P.O. Box 1106
New Haven, CT 06504
Phone: (203) 974-8440
Dr. Kirby C. Stafford III, Ph.D., Vice-Director,
Chief Scientist/State Entomologist
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
123 Huntington Street (zip 06511)
P.O. Box 1106
New Haven, CT 06504
Phone: (203) 974-8485
Emerald Ash Borer Found in Prospect and Naugatuck, Connecticut
New Haven, CT – The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) today announced that the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) was detected in Prospect, CT on July 16, 2012 by staff members at CAES. The identification has been confirmed by federal regulatory officials in the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine (USDA APHIS-PPQ). This is the first record of this pest in Connecticut, which is added to 15 other states where infestations have been detected. A new probable site of infestation is located in the Naugatuck State Forest. The beetle identification is unconfirmed. The emerald ash borer is responsible for the death and decline of tens of millions of ash trees from the mid-west to New York State and south to Tennessee. Ash makes up about 4% to 15% of Connecticut’s forests and is a common urban tree.
“The detection of the emerald ash borer (EAB) in Prospect and probably in Naugatuck reaffirms that statewide surveys for this pest were necessary,” said Louis A. Magnarelli, director of CAES. “We expected to find the beetle in areas of Connecticut across from infestations in Dutchess County, New York; however, the EAB has great flight potential and can travel in infested wood moved by people. This pest attacks all species of ash trees. Our immediate goals are to determine how extensive the Connecticut infestation is, notify residents in the Prospect and Naugatuck area, and implement strategies to slow the spread of the insect.”
The insect specimens were recovered in Prospect from a ground-nesting, native wasp (Cerceris
fumipennis), which hunts beetles in the family Buprestidae, including the emerald ash borer. The
developing wasp larvae feed on the beetles provided by the adult wasp. The wasp provides a highly
efficient and effective “bio-surveillance” survey tool and does not sting people or pets. This work was supported by the US Forest Service. In addition, 541 purple prism detection traps, containing a special chemical lure, have been set across the state in all eight counties by The University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System via an agreement with the USDA APHIS PPQ. Three additional EAB have been captured in a trap located in Prospect, while other beetles were captured in a trap in Naugatuck.
“This is a disturbing discovery and one that has the potential for great environmental harm in the state,” said DEEP Commissioner Daniel C. Esty. “Connecticut has more than 22 million ash trees. The presence of EAB here could have a devastating effect on the beauty of our forests, state and local parks and neighborhoods, as well as the state’s wood product industries. Now that EAB has been detected here, it is more important than ever to limit its spread. It is imperative that residents and visitors throughout the state not move firewood. The movement of firewood that contains the presence of EAB is the quickest way to rapidly spread the insect. We will continue to work closely with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station and other state and local agencies to do everything in our power to minimize the presence of EAB in Connecticut.”
The EAB is a small and destructive beetle, metallic green in color, and approximately 1/2 inch long and 1/8 inch wide. Adults emerge from the bark of infested trees leaving a small “D”-shaped exit hole roughly 1/8 inch in diameter. This insect is native to Asia and was first discovered in the Detroit, MI and Windsor, Ontario regions of North America in 2002. It has since spread through the movement of firewood, solid-wood packing materials, infested ash trees, and by natural flight dispersal.
It is unknown how the EAB entered Prospect or Naugatuck. Movement of infested firewood is a high risk activity that can spread the beetle over long distances. Prior to the pest’s discovery in Prospect, the closest known infestation to Connecticut is in eastern New York near the Hudson River.
The emerald ash borer is a regulated plant pest under federal (7 CFR 301.53) and state (CT Gen. Statute Sec. 22-84-5d, e, and f) regulations. For more information about the EAB, please visit the following website: www.emeraldashborer.info.
There will be a press conference at 1:15 PM at the Prospect Town Hall, 36 Center Street.
Representatives of CAES will be attending the press conference. Materials will be on display. Officials of USDA APHIS-PPQ, DEEP, and the CT Department of Agriculture are expected to be present as well.
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Showing posts with label Buprestid beetle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buprestid beetle. Show all posts
Detecting the Invasive Emerald Ash Borer in CT: Casting a wide net!
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| Jenna Klinck, UCONN Natural Resource Management and Engineering student, hoists a purple trap used to detect Emerald Ash Borer on the property. |
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| Olfactory bait packets used to attract Buprestid beetles, which includes the Emerald Ash Borer. |
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| Buprestid beetle (center) and other forest insects stuck to the side of the trap used to detect Emerald Ash Borer. |
Emerald Ash Borer is the latest invasive forest pest expanding to threaten New England forest trees, specifically ash species. A cooperative team of scientists are trying to detect Emerald Ash Borer in Connecticut, including the UCONN Cooperative Extension Service, CT Agriculture Experiment Station, and CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The tools used to capture EAB in CT are purple traps suspended in trees along roads and looks like box kites. There are scent packets suspended in the center of the traps that mimic the smell of a dying ash tree. The outer surface of the traps have a sticky glue that captures the insects. The traps are visited periodically to insure they stay in the tree canopy and to glean the glued surfaces for any insects that resemble EAB for further identification in the lab. For more information about the purple trap project click here or visit this other website for more details about the statewide effort.
Cerceris Wasp Biosurveillance of Emerald Ash Borer -- 2011 Initial Results
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| Cerceris fumipennis with Emerald Ash Borer Photo by Phillip Careless www.cerceris.info |
Cerceris Wasp Field Trip Results
White Memorial staff, interns, and volunteersgathered around a Cerceris Wasp colony at
St. Anthony's Cemetery on White's Woods Rd.
On Thursday, 7/7/2011, 9 White Memorial staff, interns, and volunteers took a field trip to St. Anthony's Cemetery on White's Woods Rd. in Litchfield to learn more about Cerceris Wasps from Claire Rutledge of the CT. Agricultural Experiment Station. James Fischer had previously located a small colony of these wasps here, so it provided an ideal setting to learn more about them. We found 13 holes in the hard-packed soil along a little-used dirt driveway. These wasps seem to prefer hard soil over soft. The photo below shows a wasp peeking out of its hole.
The photo below shows a typical Cerceris wasp
hole with a pile of course-grained soil around it.
Claire supplied us with nets, collecting bags, hole collars, and other equipment that we can use to steal Buprestid beetles from the wasps when they return to their burrows with these prey items. The primary goal is to monitor for the non-native, invasive, and highly destructive Emerald Ash Borer beetle, which is in the Buprestid group, and which is readily captured by these wasps in the Great Lakes states. They haven't been found yet in Connecticut, but this is a relatively easy way to monitor for their presence.
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