Asian Ambrosia Beetle Update by Jennifer Santoro, Graduate Student Intern
Asian ambrosia beetles, an invasive wood-boring insect, have shown up in a handful of our Virginia orchards. The beetles bore into small-sized trees and introduce a fungus that ultimately kills the tree. After receiving a tip from Arborist Bob Arnold at the Blandy Experimental Farm and Arboretum, we conducted an extensive investigation of all of our Virginia orchards in search of any evidence of Asian ambrosia beetles attacking the chestnut trees. We found damage in two other orchards and, with help from the orchard managers, removed and burned the infected trees to prevent the beetles from spreading further this year. We consulted with Maryland Chapter orchard steward coordinator Ron Kuipers and Professor Stanton Gill of the Maryland Extension Service, who have several years of experience dealing with Asian ambrosia beetles in chestnut orchards, and concluded that we should planto install Asian ambrosia beetle traps in the infested orchards.
Currently, we are working on constructing ambrosia beetle traps and looking for entomologists and entomology literate volunteers willing to help us identify the bugs caught. We hope to do a “test run” of traps to prepare for catching Asian ambrosia beetles early next spring to control measures to control and prevent future damage.
Once we identify entomologists and train some skilled volunteers, we are prepared to install the first round of Asian ambrosia beetle traps and monitor them weekly for insects. During this process, we hope to further educate orchard owners and managers about the damaging effects of this invasive pest and how to protect their orchards from future attacks.
Additional information on Asian ambrosia beetles can be found here (http://www.bugwood.org/factsheets/99-010.html) and in the most recent issue (May/June 2013) of The Journal of the American Chestnut Foundation.
