Scientists are pitting insects against insects in a battle to control an invasive species. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) researchers have released tiny parasitic wasps in forests in Maryland to attack the emerald ash borer, an invader from China that is devastating forests across the northern United States.
By the end of this decade, this insect will have done an estimated $10 billion of damage nationwide, according to one study. Plant and animal hitchhikers traversing the planet in our globalized economy have made invasive species a $1.4 trillion-a-year problem worldwide, says the United Nations. But rather than spraying pesticides that risk doing additional harm, the USDA scientists are bringing the invasive insect’s natural predators in from Asia to try to restore balance.
Beneath the bark of an infested ash tree, the borer’s larvae carve twisting paths that cut off the supply of nutrients. It’s like slashing the tree’s arteries. “There is a possibility some species may be completely wiped out by this beetle,” said USDA entomologist Jian Duan. “And you can imagine the cascading effect of losing a tree species in our native forest.”
Ash trees make up 20 to 40 percent of some northern U.S. forests. The emerald ash borer threatens them and all the creatures that depend on them. When the borer arrived from China in the 1990s – likely in a wooden crate or shipping pallet – it had no natural enemies here.
From Voice Of America: https://www.voanews.com/content/wasp-recruited-to-fight-invasive-beetle/1959172.html?utm_source=WIT072514&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekInTrees