For Large-Scale Pest Insect Detection, Traps in Parallel Lines More Efficient Than Grids
Detecting pest insects across large areas means placing vast numbers of traps, with associated costs to set them up and check them regularly. Grid patterns have been the traditional choice, but a new study shows trap-placement patterns using parallel lines could be just as effective with much lower servicing requirements.
It Takes a Village: Our Continued Efforts to Manage Invasive Species in the U.S.
Invasive species are a perpetual threat to U.S. agriculture, natural resources, and public health, and we're seemingly inundated with new ones every time you open the news. Is progress possible, or are we destined to spin on an invasive species hamster wheel?
Not So Fast! International Biosecurity Program Succeeds in Preventing Spread of Invasive Moth
The moth Lymantria dispar asiatica has been unintentionally introduced to North America several times in the last few decades. Through a complex monitoring and management program, officials have been able to prevent this pest from establishing in North American forests. A new report in the open-access Journal of Integrated Pest Management gives an inside look at this success.
Meet the Fungus That Slows the Spread of an Invasive Moth
One of the best tools for forest entomologists to manage outbreaks of the moth Lymantria dispar is a fungus, native to Japan, that was discovered in the U.S. in 1989. Entomophaga maimaiga can be spread via soil containing its spores or infected L. dispar larvae.