Stitlgrass range expansion – now found in Iowa

from the Illinois Invasive Species Awareness Blog…

Last fall, an infestation of Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) was found in Johnson County Iowa.  This represents that first time this species has been found in that state and the furthest Northwest it has been found.

Even though stiltgrass is an annual plant that ‘comes on’ primarily in the summer, it can still be identified this time of year by the thatch…

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Asian wasp, enemy of stink bugs, found in the United States

One of the recovered Beltsville specimens of Trissolcus japonicus emerges from a BMSB egg. Source: Elijah Talamas, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Systematic Entomology Laboratory

The Asian wasp Trissolcus japonicus has been found in the wild in the United States. The wasp, native to the regions of Asia where the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) originates, is known to attack the eggs of BMSB and possibly other stink bugs. The wasp doesn’t sting or otherwise harm humans, but scientists are working to determine how it might affect stink bugs of all kinds. Kim Hoelmer, an entomologist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, wrote:

“A survey of resident egg parasitoids of the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys, conducted during the summer of 2014 by Don Weber (ARS-Beltsville Area Research Center, or BARC) using sentinel stink bug egg masses revealed that an Asian egg parasitoid of BMSB, Trissolcus japonicus, was present in the wild at one of his study sites at BARC in Beltsville, Maryland. The specimens were identified by Dr. Elijah Talamas (ARS, Systematic Entomology Laboratory, or SEL), a specialist on this group of parasitoids. We have complete confidence in his identifications. The identification was confirmed by Dr. Matt Buffington (also ARS-SEL) using genomic DNA. The ‘barcode’ regions COI and ITS2 of the BARC specimens were consistent with those of Asian populations of T. japonicus obtained from ARS and CABI-Bioscience field collections in Asia and analyzed by Dr. M.C. Bon at the ARS European Biological Control Laboratory…(more)

The 12 Worst Invasives in the United States

 February 23 (Washington Post)
 

For some animals, there’s no such thing as a dog-eat-dog world. They rule.
Animals from around the world that stow away in airplanes, ships and the luggage of some smuggler become almost bulletproof when they make their way into the American wilderness as invasive species. Why? They’re new here, and they don’t have predators to keep them in check. Animals that should be afraid of a vicious predator aren’t. Invasive species eat like kings.

Living high on the hog, these marauders aren’t going anywhere. Unlike many native animals that are disappearing from North America — vaquita porpoisesmonarch butterflies, bottlenose dolphin and such — invasive species are growing faster than wildlife and game officials can manage them. In many cases, authorities have given up any hope of eradicating them.
Here are 12 of the most destructive invasive plants and animals in the United States, a dirty dozen. If it’s on this list, there’s a good chance that a government official in an office somewhere is trying to think of ways to kill it.

Burmese pythons

These long, lean eating machines are terrorizing the Florida Everglades. Humans don’t have much to fear, but native animals had better watch their backs. Alligators are being knocked off their perch as the swamp’s top predator. People ask why these snakes are such a problem. Why can’t experienced hunters walk into the Everglades and kill them? Burmese pythons from Southeast Asia are so stealthy that even experts with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have a tough time spotting them, let alone killing them. Since they were determined to be established and put the squeeze on the swamp in 2002, deer, raccoon, marsh rabbits, bobcats and possum have declined by as much as 99 percent in some cases, according to researchers for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Emerald ash borer

This bug’s march across the Midwest is not the kind of green movement that conserves nature. It ruins ash trees that provide durable wood used for flooring, bowling alleys, church pews, baseball bats and electric guitars. The bugs sparkle like a jewel with their glittery hide, but the nickel-sized holes they bore into trees are ugly, and the squiggly trails their larvae etch on the bark can make your skin crawl. They arrived in southeastern Michigan in 2002 from their native habitats in Russia, China and Japan. Since then, tens of millions of ash trees have been killed, and their numbers continue to grow.

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White-Nose Syndrome Found in Four Additional Illinois Counties

Disease That Has Killed Millions of Bats in North America Confirmed For First Time in Union, Saline, Johnson and Jackson Counties

SPRINGFIELD, IL – White-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that has killed millions of bats in North America, has been found in four new Illinois counties.  Tests conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin found five bats submitted from Union, Saline, Johnson, and Jackson Counties were positive for the disease.  These are the first confirmed records in these counties.  The disease was first discovered in Illinois in 2013 in Hardin, LaSalle, Monroe and Pope Counties.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is not known to affect people, pets, or livestock, but is harmful or lethal to hibernating bats, killing 90 percent or more of some species of bats in caves where the fungus has persisted for a year or longer, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

WNS is known to be transmitted primarily from bat to bat, but spores of Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the non-native fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, may be unintentionally carried between caves and abandoned mines by people on their clothing, footwear, and caving gear. The name of the disease refers to the white fungal growth often found on the noses of infected bats.  To protect hibernating bats, including threatened and endangered species, all Illinois Department of Natural Resources-owned or managed caves have been closed to the public since 2010. In addition, all caves within the Shawnee National Forest, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, have been formally closed since 2009…(more)

EAB University: EAB Toolkit 2015

EAB UNIVERSITY, MARCH 12 at 11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time

“EAB Toolkit 2015”

Purdue University Entomologist Cliff Sadof will give an overview of tools to help in the management and control of emerald ash borer.

This session is meant to help communities at every stage of the EAB invasion. Topics covered include:

  • Improving awareness about EAB
  • Assessing the resource at risk
  • Pesticide management options
  • Decision making guides
  • Biological control
  • Wood Utilization

In the process, Dr. Sadof will make references to previous EAB University presentations where each of these topics have been discussed.

To join the meeting:
https://connect.msu.edu/toolkit_2015/

—————-
If you have never attended an Adobe Connect meeting before:

Test your connection:  https://connect.msu.edu/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

Get a quick overview: http://www.adobe.com/go/connectpro_overview

Webinar: “Emerald Ash Borer on the ‘Fringes’ of Its Host Range”

EAB University will be hosting a webinar this Thursday morning:

“Emerald Ash Borer on the ‘Fringes’ of Its Host Range”

Don Cipollini from the Dept. of Biological Sciences at Wright State University in Dayton, OH, will present his research on EAB infestations of the white fringe tree.

Please join the Adobe Connect Webinar on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 11 a.m. Eastern.

To join the meeting, go to:
https://connect.msu.edu/white_fringe/

National Invasive Species Awareness Week!

National Invasive Species Awareness Week begins TODAY!  The Center of Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health at the University of Georgia is hosting daily webinars on the latest in invasive species management, education, and policy issues.

The webinars are as follows:

Monday, Feb. 23: Landscape-scale Invasive Plant Control Projects – Chris Evans, Illinois Wildlife Action Plan

  • Nick Seaton and Caleb Grantham, Southern Illinois Invasive Species Strike Team, The Nature Conservancy
  • Cheryl Millett, Central Florida Lygodium Strategy, The Nature Conservancy
  • Carmen Chapin, Great Lakes Exotic Plant Management Team, National Park Service

Tuesday, Feb. 24: Play, Clean, Go – Laura Van Riper, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Wednesday, Feb. 25: Invasive Plant Listing: Taking it up a Notch with a National Standard – Nancy Loewenstein, Auburn University

Thursday, Feb. 26: EDDMapS, Smartphones and the NAISMA Mapping Standards – Chuck Bargeron, University of Georgia

Friday, Feb. 27: Don’t Move Firewood, What we can do for you – Leigh Greenwood, Don’t Move Firewood Campaign Manager, The Nature Conservancy

Each webinar will begin at 3 p.m. EST and end approximately 4 p.m. EST.

Registration free and is available at http://www.nisaw.org/2015webinar.html.

Emerald Ash Borer Detected in Louisiana

February 18, 2015

Baton Rouge, La. (February 18, 2015) – The emerald ash borer, a severe insect pest of ash trees, has been confirmed in Webster Parish making Louisiana the 25th state to confirm the presence of this beetle.

Emerald ash borer (EAB) is a federally-regulated plant pest that almost exclusively attacks ash trees. It was first reported in the U.S. in Michigan in 2002.  The beetle, which is native to Asia, most likely entered the country in dunnage or wooden pallets.  Since that time, it has spread down the East Coast as far south as North Carolina and Georgia, and west to Colorado.  Most recently, it was found in southern Arkansas in July 2014.

A U.S. Forest Service and Forest Health Protection employee found evidence of EAB damage in ash trees during a visual survey.  Further investigation revealed larvae (immature beetles) beneath the bark of multiple trees in approximately a two acre area.  Feeding damage creates characteristic S-shaped tunnels, or galleries, in the sapwood causing initial branch dieback. After several years, the infested trees die.  Larvae were collected and sent to the USDA Systematic Entomology Laboratory in Maryland where they were confirmed as EAB.

“Louisiana’s ash trees are primarily located along the Atchafalaya Basin and the Mississippi River Delta. However, ash trees are also planted in many  urban areas for its aesthetic appeal,” said Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) Commissioner Mike Strain, D.V.M. “As mentioned last year when EAB was discovered in our neighboring state of Arkansas, it could be costly for residents or city officials to have them removed once they start dying.”

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