[Pollinator] Pollinator Digest, Vol 1929, Issue 1
Hilary Cox
crumpetlee at gmail.com
Tue Oct 10 14:30:10 PDT 2017
Why not just kill Ailanthus? It is mostly an extremely invasive species...
https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/plants/treeheaven.shtml
Hilary Cox
Leescapes Garden Design
Avon IN
On 10/10/2017 1:32 PM, Clement Kent wrote:
> re: The Spotted Lanternfly and Ailanthus
>
> I think Kirk Wattles is right to worry about this invasive bug. It
> doesn't just feed on Ailanthus trees, it attacks some commercial crops
> and some native trees, so efforts to control it are going to be
> vigorous. The weakness it has is its preference to feed on the
> Ailanthus tree in late summer and lay eggs there in the fall. This
> is the reason Pennsylvania is encouraging people in Lanternfly
> infested zones to dose their Ailanthus trees with neonics
> (imidacloprid, dinetofuran) before the bugs arrive.
>
> Unfortunately, there are reports from beekeepers that honeybees do
> like Ailanthus flowers when in bloom. Bloom time is listed as
> June-July. I think one constructive step would be for PA agricultural
> authorities to amend their instructions to say something like "if you
> use systemic pesticides on Ailanthus trees, be sure to do so in early
> August, not before". This will give the bees 10 months before they
> encounter the pesticides in next year's flowers, which will reduce the
> effective dose. It will also ensure the dose is higher when the
> lanternflies arrive on the trees.
>
> An alternative for those willing to do a bit more work is to use
> something like a horticultural oil spray on the trunks of Ailanthus
> trees. As this requires contact, it won't kill everything, but it
> should also get rid of egg clusters if they are sprayed. The PA
> Agriculture folk recommend inspecting Ailanthus trees on a property,
> cutting down the ones that are less attractive to lantern flies, and
> just treating the remaining ones. This should make whatever treatment
> is used more effective.
>
> Dr. Surendra Dara, an IPM and crop advisor at the University of
> California , says "A parasitic wasp called /Anastatus orientalis/ may
> have potential because it is reported to parasitize up to 69 percent
> of spotted lanternfly eggs in China." The USDA Agricultural Research
> Service has recently started evaluating natural controls in China -
> see
> https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=338695
> but it is often many years before such natural enemies can be
> determined to be effective and safe for release. Recently ARS and PA
> researchers reported than a parasitoid long ago introduced to North
> America for gypsy moth control is now attacking lantern fly eggs - see
> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5270392/ . Since this
> parasitoid is already in the US, there would presumably be no
> objections to mass rearing it and releasing it at lantern fly
> infestations. The USDA is presumably studying this.
>
> Clement Kent
>
> On Tue, Oct 10, 2017 at 3:00 PM, <pollinator-request at lists.sonic.net
> <mailto:pollinator-request at lists.sonic.net>> wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Spotted Lanternfly - a growing threat to insect pollinators
> (Kirk Wattles)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2017 10:14:10 -0400
> From: Kirk Wattles <kwattles at verizon.net
> <mailto:kwattles at verizon.net>>
> To: pollinator at lists.sonic.net <mailto:pollinator at lists.sonic.net>
> Subject: [Pollinator] Spotted Lanternfly - a growing threat to insect
> pollinators
> Message-ID: <15f06a2bde1-c09-30e05 at webjas-vae124.srv.aolmail.net
> <mailto:15f06a2bde1-c09-30e05 at webjas-vae124.srv.aolmail.net>>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Friends,
>
> We're having a problem here in eastern Pennsylvania which will
> likely have dire consequences for pollinator insects (and others)
> in a wide section of the U.S., if not nationally.
>
> I'm not an expert, but I know that 1 + 1 + 1 = 3.
>
> 1 - The Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is an
> leaf-hopper-type insect that got started as an 'invasive' in Berks
> County, Pennsylvania 4-5 years ago.
>
> 1 - Official resources for containing and extirpating the SLF are
> inadequate. The would-be quarantine zone has expanded several
> times in the last two years, with nothing to suggest that the
> invasion will be contained.? Wherever the Ailanthus tree grows,
> they will multiply.
>
> 1 - Neonicotinoid pesticides are the only "best" treatment, and
> probably neonics (and other pesticides) will be very heavily used
> by official agencies, farmers, and DIY horticulturalists, and
> anyone who wants to protect their trees. With knock-on effects on
> many other insects.
>
> I don't know how far knowledge of this problem has reached, but I
> see little sign of concern or news coverage outside of the locally
> affected areas.
>
> I won't elaborate on the details of the problem.? Again, I'm not
> an expert.? I'm a beekeeper.? I heard through beekeeping clubs in
> the affected area that local people were freaking out, 4-6 weeks
> ago when the SLF graduated from the instar/nymph stage and began
> dropping from the trees in massive numbers.? When I investigated,
> I began to see how neonics were being promoted by word of mouth
> and recognized by the officials running the current efforts.? And
> how the invasion is in the mid-phase of exponential growth.
>
> A lot of the relevant information and links are collected in a
> facebook group 'Spotted Lanternfly' and on a facebook page
> 'Spotted Lanternfly Watch.' (Links to those may trigger spam
> filters, so you can just look them up for yourselves.)? The main
> agencies involved currently are the Pennsylvania Department of
> Agriculture and Penn State University.
>
> It should be self-evident, to anyone who knows bugs reading
> through that material (including the comments by knowledgeable
> observers in the zone), how bad this problem is likely to be.
>
> --
> Kirk Wattles
> kwattles at verizon.net <mailto:kwattles at verizon.net>
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