RE: Using wasps to fight off the ash borers? Article in a local Maine newspaper

[firefighterjake]

(broken link removed)

Saw this the other day . . . looks like Maine is gearing up in anticipation of the ABB coming up this way eventually. Does anyone know if any of the other states affected by the ABB have tried using predators to take this bug out or reduce its impact?

 

[Bubbavh]

They introduced a wasp to deal with the gypsy moths in our area. Turns out the wasp is killing the trees too!
I think the wasps kill more trees than the moths.

 

[Wood Duck]

This seems like the usual way to combat an invasive insect - find the natural predators who control it in its native land and introduce them here. Sometimes it works pretty well, as it sort of has with Gypsy moths. You may recall a few decades ago that Gypsy Moths seemed unstoppable, but now they are bad only in sporadic outbreaks rather than rampaging across the northeast. I think a lot of the difference is due to introduced predators. Maybe the same approach will work for Emerald Ash Borer.

By the way, Gypsy Moths have killed a lot of trees here in the past few years, leaving tons of dead standing timber - mostly oak.

 

[wolfram]

Here's some government info on biocontrol of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB):

(broken link removed to http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/ea/downloads/eab-ea4-07.pdf)

It's a 2007 USDA article on the proposed release of three different parasitoids to control at egg stage and larval stage.

Here is a link (with pictures) to a USDA brochure that describes the release of the stingless wasp-like predators:

(broken link removed to http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/emerald_ash_b/downloads/eab-biocontrol.pdf)

The proposed killers come to us from China, and newer ones from Korea and Russia. Lots of folks are working on it, but at present, most all ash trees are doomed. BTW, EAB likes Green Ash best, then Black, then White. And, the "American Mountain Ash" (characterized by orange fruit) is not an Ash, and EAB will not kill them.