Visually Mediated ‘Paratrooper Copulations’ in the Mating Behavior of Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), a Highly Destructive Invasive Pest of North American Ash Trees

Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), a phloem-feeding insect native to Asia, was identified in 2002 as the cause of widespread ash (Fraxinus) mortality in southeast Michigan, U.S. and Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Little information about A. planipennis is available from its native range and it was not known whether this invasive pest would exhibit a preference for a particular North American ash species. We monitored A. planipennis density and canopy condition on green ash (F. pennsylvanica) and white ash (F. americana) street trees in four neighborhoods and on white and blue ash (F. quadrangulata) trees in two woodlots in southeast Michigan. Green ash street trees had significantly more canopy dieback and higher A. planipennis densities than white ash trees growing in the same neighborhood. Density increased by two- to fourfold in both species over a 3-year period. Canopy dieback increased linearly from 2002 to 2005 as A. planipennis density increased (R 2= 0.70). In each of the woodlots, A. planipennis densities were significantly higher on white ash trees than blue ash trees. Woodpecker predation occurred in all sites and accounted for 35% of the A. planipennis that developed on trees we surveyed. Results indicate that surveys for A. planipennis detection in areas with multiple ash species should focus on the relatively preferred species.

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Record of the Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) in Ukraine is Confirmed

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects10100338 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 338 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Drogvalenko ◽

Orlova-Bienkowskaja ◽

Bieńkowski

Keyword(s):

Emerald Ash Borer ◽

Agrilus Planipennis ◽

European Russia ◽

Invasive Pest ◽

Fraxinus Pennsylvanica ◽

Ash Trees ◽

Boring Insect ◽

Wood Boring

Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is a devastating invasive pest of ash trees. This wood-boring insect is native to Asia and established in European Russia about 20 years ago. It severely damages Fraxinus pennsylvanica plantations and quickly spreads. In 2019 we first detected A. planipennis in Ukraine. More than 20 larvae were collected from under the bark of F. pennsylvanica trees on 5 September 2019 in the Markivka District of the Luhansk Region. The coordinates of the localities of collection were 49.614991 N, 39.559743 E; 49.614160 N, 39.572402 E; and 49.597043 N, 39.561811 E. The photos of the damaged trees with larval galleries, exit holes and larvae are presented. It indicates that A. planipennis is established in the east of Ukraine. This fact is important for development of quarantine protocols to prevent or at least slow the further spread of this invasive pest in Europe.

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Nontarget Insects Caught on Emerald Ash Borer Purple Monitoring Traps in Western Pennsylvania

Northern Journal of Applied Forestry ◽

10.1093/njaf/28.4.219 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 28 (4) ◽

pp. 219-221 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Michael J. Skvarla ◽

Jeffrey D. Holland

Keyword(s):

Invasive Species ◽

North American ◽

Emerald Ash Borer ◽

Agrilus Planipennis ◽

Sticky Traps ◽

Pest Insects ◽

Ash Trees ◽

Western Pennsylvania ◽

Monitoring Traps ◽

Invasive Beetle

Abstract Emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), is an invasive beetle attacking North American ash trees (Fraxinus L. [Oleaceae]). Populations in infested areas are monitored with purple sticky traps. During summer 2008, we monitored nine pairs of purple traps and clear control traps to determine which other insect families are attracted to these traps and whether these traps might be used to monitor other pest insects. We argue that monitoring bycatch in these traps could greatly increase the potential of finding other invasive species.

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Emerald Ash Borer Approaches the Borders of the European Union and Kazakhstan and Is Confirmed to Infest European Ash

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12060691 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 691

Author(s):

Mark G. Volkovitsh ◽

Andrzej O. Bieńkowski ◽

Marina J. Orlova-Bienkowskaja

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Plant Protection ◽

Emerald Ash Borer ◽

Agrilus Planipennis ◽

European Russia ◽

Invasive Pest ◽

The European Union ◽

Green Ash ◽

Ash Trees ◽

European Ash

Emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, native to East Asia, is an invasive pest of ash in North America and European Russia. This quarantine species is a threat to ash trees all over Europe. Survey in ten provinces of European Russia in 2019–2020 showed that EAB had spread faster and farther than was previously thought. The new infested sites were first detected in St. Petersburg (110–120 km from the EU border: Estonia, Finland) and Astrakhan Province (50 km from the Kazakhstan border). The current range of EAB in Europe includes Luhansk Province of Ukraine and 18 provinces of Russia: Astrakhan, Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Moscow, Orel, Ryazan, Smolensk, St. Petersburg, Tambov, Tula, Tver, Vladimir, Volgograd, Voronezh, and Yaroslavl. Within these, only seven quarantine phytosanitary zones in five provinces are declared by the National Plant Protection Organization of Russia. EAB was not found in the regions along the Middle Volga: Mari El, Chuvash and Tatarstan republics, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara and Saratov provinces. The infested sites in St. Petersburg and in the Lower Volga basin are range enclaves separated from the core invasion range by 470 and 370 km, correspondingly. It is possible that new enclaves can appear in the cities of Eastern Europe and Kazakhstan far from the current known range. All previously known infestations in European Russia were in green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), which was introduced from North America, and individual trees of European ash (F. excelsior). A first confirmed case of mass decline of several thousand of EAB-infested European ash trees in Moscow province is provided. Therefore, there is no more doubt that under certain conditions EAB can seriously damage native ash trees in European forests.

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Fungi from Galleries of the Emerald Ash Borer Produce Cankers in Ash Trees

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12111509 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (11) ◽

pp. 1509

Author(s):

Nickolas N. Rajtar ◽

Benjamin W. Held ◽

Robert A. Blanchette

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Field Experiments ◽

Emerald Ash Borer ◽

The United States ◽

Agrilus Planipennis ◽

Invasive Pest ◽

Green Ash ◽

White Ash ◽

Agar Plug ◽

Ash Trees

The emerald ash borer (EAB, Agrilus planipennis) is a devastating invasive pest that has killed millions of ash trees in the United States and Canada. EAB was discovered in the US in 2002 and first reported in Minnesota in 2009. It attacks ash trees that are native to the United States, including Fraxinus americana (white ash), F. nigra (black ash) and F. pennsylvanica (green ash). It also attacks Chionanthus virginicus (white fringe tree). Seven species of fungi isolated and identified only from EAB-infested trees in a previous study as having the potential to cause cankers were used to test their pathogenicity in F. americana (white ash). The fungi used were Cytospora pruinosa, Diplodia mutila, Diplodia seriata, Paraconiothyrium brasiliense, Phaeoacremonium minimum, Phaeoacremonium scolyti, and Thyronectria aurigera. Two field experiments that used F. americana used two inoculation methods: woodchip and agar plug inoculations. Results indicated that all of the fungi tested caused cankers in varying amounts, as compared to the controls. The largest cankers were caused by D. mutila (270 mm2), C. pruinosa (169 mm2), and D. seriata (69 mm2). All fungi except for T. aurigera were re-isolated and sequenced to confirm Kochs’ postulates. Canker-causing fungi found in association with EAB galleries have the potential to contribute to tree dieback and mortality.

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The Fate of Ornamental White Fringetree Through the Invasion Wave of Emerald Ash Borer and Implications for Novel Host Use by This Beetle

Environmental Entomology ◽

10.1093/ee/nvaa018 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 49 (2) ◽

pp. 489-495 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

E A Ellison ◽

D L Peterson ◽

D Cipollini

Keyword(s):

Emerald Ash Borer ◽

Agrilus Planipennis ◽

Invasive Pest ◽

Current Status ◽

Tree Health ◽

Ash Trees ◽

Novel Host ◽

Invasion Wave ◽

Wood Boring ◽

Infestation Status

Abstract Emerald ash borer (EAB, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire [Coleoptera: Buprestidae]) is a wood boring beetle that is an invasive pest of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) in North America. In 2014, it was reported that EAB had infested white fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus L. [Lamiales: Oleaceae]) in Ohio and was since found to have infested this species across its invasive range. In 2018, we reexamined 166 white fringetrees in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania that had been previously examined for EAB attack in 2015 to determine their fate. We assessed tree health and EAB infestation in each tree, assigned an infestation status of newly, continuously, not reinfested, or never infested, and compared the trees’ current status to their 2015 status. This assessment was done to determine whether their health and infestation status had changed through the EAB invasion wave. We found that attack rates declined: 26% of trees were infested in 2015 whereas only 13% were in 2018, likely coinciding with declining beetle populations in the area. Overall tree health improved for trees that were not reinfested by EAB after a record of attack in 2015, suggesting that they can survive and recover from EAB attack. Conversely, health declined for newly and continuously infested trees, indicating that they became stressed from EAB attack. Although the majority of the trees survived the invasion wave, several were removed from various sites due to EAB attack suggesting that white fringetree varies in its resistance and tolerance to attack. As beetle populations continue to expand geographically, infestation rates will likely increase and health of white fringetrees will decrease with the EAB attack wave, especially as EAB reaches denser populations of fringetrees.

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Woolly Ash Aphid Prociphilus Fraxinifolii (Riley, 1879) (Hemiptera: Eriosomatidae), A New Invasive Alien Pest of Ash Trees (Fraxinus) in Russia

10.1101/254078 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Andrzej Bieńkowski ◽

Marina Orlova-Bienkowskaja

Keyword(s):

Emerald Ash Borer ◽

First Record ◽

Agrilus Planipennis ◽

Moscow Region ◽

Invasive Pest ◽

Fraxinus Pennsylvanica ◽

Ash Dieback ◽

Hymenoscyphus Fraxineus ◽

Ash Trees ◽

Alien Pest

Woolly ash aphid or ash leaf curl aphid Prociphilus fraxinifolii (Riley, 1879) is an alien invasive pest of ash trees native to North America. After its first record in Europe in 2003 in Hungary it has spread to the Ukraine, Serbia, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Spain, Poland and Germany. In 2016 P. fraxinifolii was firstly recorded at the southwestern border of Russia. Now Prociphilus fraxinifolii is firstly recorded in the center of European Russia, namely in Moscow Region, which is more than 700 km far from all other known localities of the species. In September 2017 five groups of ash trees (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) with colonies of Prociphilus fraxinifolii were found in Moscow Region. The example of Prociphilus fraxinifolii shows that alien pest insects can spread in Europe very quickly. Now Moscow region is the only regions of Europe, where the expanding range of Prociphilus fraxinifolii has overlapped with expanding ranges of other invasive alien species established in Europe in the last 20 years and severely damaging ash trees: ash dieback fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus Baral et al., 2014 (Ascomycota) and emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, 1888 (Coleoptera: Buprestidae).

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Record of the Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) in Ukraine is Confirmed

10.20944/preprints201909.0174.v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alexander N. Drogvalenko ◽

Marina J. Orlova-Bienkowskaja ◽

Andrzej O. Bieńkowski

Keyword(s):

Emerald Ash Borer ◽

Agrilus Planipennis ◽

European Russia ◽

Invasive Pest ◽

Fraxinus Pennsylvanica ◽

Ash Trees ◽

Boring Insect ◽

Wood Boring

Agrilus planipennis is a devastating invasive pest of ash trees. This wood-boring insect native to Asia and established in European Russia about 20 years ago poses a serious threat to ash trees all over Europe. In 2019 we first detected Agrilus planipennis in Ukraine. More than 20 larvae have been collected from under the bark of Fraxinus pennsylvanica trees on 5 September 2019 in Markivka District of Luhansk Region. Coordinates of the localities of collection: 49.614991 N, 39.559743 E; 49.614160 N, 39.572402 E and 49.597043 N, 39.561811 E. The photos of damaged trees with larval galleries, exit holes and larvae are presented. There is no doubt that the pest is established in Ukraine. This fact is important for development of quarantine protocols to prevent or at least slow the further spread of this invasive pest in Europe.

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Semiochemistry and chemical ecology of the emerald ash borerAgrilus planipennis(Coleoptera: Buprestidae)

The Canadian Entomologist ◽

10.4039/tce.2014.58 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 147 (3) ◽

pp. 277-289 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Peter Silk ◽

Krista Ryall

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Natural History ◽

Chemical Ecology ◽

Emerald Ash Borer ◽

The United States ◽

Agrilus Planipennis ◽

Invasive Pest ◽

Mate Finding ◽

Pheromone Components ◽

Ash Trees

AbstractThe emerald ash borer (EAB),Agrilus planipennisFairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is a very serious invasive pest in North America, causing extremely high levels of mortality to ash trees (FraxinusLinnaeus, Oleaceae) in the United States of America and Canada. Knowledge of buprestid chemical ecology is sparse, but the appearance of EAB in North America and its devastating ecological and economic impacts, particularly in the urban environment, have provided an opportunity to study the semiochemistry, natural history, and ecology of this buprestid in detail. This review will summarise the chemical ecology of EAB to date, discussing studies on semiochemistry, natural history, and behaviour with respect to host and mate finding that have identified several female-produced pheromone components (contact and sex pheromones), and attractive host kairomones. Earlier reviews focused on studies of attractive host volatiles with respect to development of a trapping system and visual and contact phenomena in EAB mate finding. This has led to the development of an efficient trapping system for EAB, with attempts to optimise the range of variables in trap protocols, combining pheromone components, release rates, and combinations with host kairomones, as well as trap type, placement, height, and colour being taken into account.

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North-Westward Expansion of the Invasive Range of Emerald Ash Borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) towards the EU: From Moscow to Saint Petersburg

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12040502 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 502

Author(s):

Dmitry L. Musolin ◽

Andrey V. Selikhovkin ◽

Elena Y. Peregudova ◽

Boris G. Popovichev ◽

Michail Y. Mandelshtam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Agrilus Planipennis ◽

European Russia ◽

Invasive Pest ◽

Invasive Range ◽

Saint Petersburg ◽

The North ◽

Tree Expansion ◽

Ash Trees ◽

North Western ◽

The Eu

Agrilus planipennis is a devastating invasive pest of ash trees in European Russia, Ukraine, and North America. To monitor the north-western limit of its European invasive range, in June 2018 we established 10 study plots along the federal highway M10 (Russia) that runs between Moscow and Saint Petersburg through Tver’ City (approx. 180 km from Moscow), and lined with ash trees. On each plot, 2–4 Fraxinus pennsylvanica trees with heights ranging 6.1–17.0 m and diameters ranging 7.0–18.0 cm were girdled, i.e., 50 cm of their bark were removed. The study plots were visited and girdled trees were examined in September and November, 2018, and in October, 2019. Observations revealed that the current continuous north-western limit of A. planipennis range in European Russia coincides with the north-western border of Tver’ City and this range limit has not distinctly shifted north-westward during 2015–2019. In spite of the rich food supply (due to abundant F. pennsylvanica and F. excelsior plantings) in Tver’ City and along roads going to and from, the population density of A. planipennis in the area is currently low. Recent (September 2020) sudden detection of a spatially isolated A. planipennis outbreak approx. 520 km far north-westward from Tver’ (in Saint Petersburg) suggested that A. planipennis most likely had arrived at Saint Petersburg not by gradual stepwise (flying tree-to-tree) expansion of its continuous invasive range in Tver’ City, but as a result of its accidental introduction by means of, e.g., “insect-hitchhiked” vehicles, transported plants for planting, and/or other commodities. The proximity of the reported A.planipennis outbreak to the borders of the EU (approx. 130 km to Estonia and Finland) requires urgent measures for its containment and control, and constant monitoring.

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