A female beetle decoy may soon rid the United States of the destructive emerald ash borer. An international team of researchers has developed a decoy female ash borer that attracts, then electrocutes the male beetles as they land on it to mate. The results of the study appeared in the Sept. 15 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Our new decoy and electrocution process may be useful in managing what the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service claims to be the most destructive forest pest ever seen in North America,” Michael Domingue, a postdoctoral fellow in entomology at Penn State, said in an article by Sara Lajeunesse and posted on the university’s website.
Researchers from the university worked with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Forest Research Institute in Matrafured, Hungary, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the project.
Two types of decoys were created: a bioreplicated female and a 3D digitally printed version. Although both types initially attracted the males, only the bioreplicated version enticed the males to land and be electrocuted and trapped.
Since being introduced from China in 2002, the emerald ash borer has killed tens of millions of native ash trees. The destruction has been widespread, throughout 24 states and two Canadian provinces, according the Forest Service.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood/lumber-data-trends/Fatal-Attraction-Emerald-Ash-Borer-Meets-its-Match-277943781.html#sthash.6LHz3X0l.qv3A7Cnw.dpbs