New Strategy Will Hopefully Slow Down Emerald Ash Borer Beetle
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Eating them before they eat the trees. That's the latest strategy being tried to slow down the Emerald Ash Borer beetle.
Alex DeMetrick reports because the beetle is native to Asia, Asian predators are being released in Maryland.
This is no ordinary walk in the woods in Prince George's County. It's a mission to test a biological weapon against a foreign invader: the Emerald Ash Borer beetle, which is chewing its way through ash trees in much of Maryland.
"We look for a concentration of Emerald Ash Borer already here so that they'll have something to parasitize," said Charles Pickett, Emerald Ash Borer Project.
That "they" is a tiny wasp imported from Asia, which lays its own eggs inside the eggs of the Ash Borer, whose young then devour the young beetles.
"Everything that's released that is foreign needs to go through rigorous testing to make sure it's not going to have a negative impact on the native species," said Dick Bean, Maryland Department of Agriculture.
Years of research say it's a safe introduction, one you'll likely never see--because these specs are Ash Borer eggs about to hatch the wasp's young, which won't be much larger.
Using simple cups with escape screens, paper holding the eggs goes onto an infected ash tree. When the wasps hatch, they'll sniff out more Ash Borer eggs.
"I think the most important cue is pheromone, odor from the egg," said Gian Doan, Emerald Ash Borer Project.
Eggs that hatch beetles produce larvae that feed just under the bark, killing the tree.
"Heavily infested. Totally destroyed," Bean said.
It's far from certain how well this approach will work, but there's every reason for trying.
"The Emerald Ash Borer has been winning. We're really fighting. We think that these parasitoids will slow it down enough until we find a tool that works much better, but it's a very persistent insect," Pickett said.
If the spread of the Emerald Ash Borer is not slowed down, Maryland's Department of Agriculture estimates the state could suffer $270 million damage in lost trees.
