| Section Three: IPPM |
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| Introduction |
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The purpose of the Insect Pest Prevention and Management Section (IPPM) is to protect Oregon’s agriculture, horticulture, environment, and quality of life from damaging insect pests and to enhance or maintain the value of our agricultural and horticultural products. Our first set of defenses is regulatory, consisting of state and federal quarantines to exclude exotic pests from Oregon and state control area orders to slow their spread within Oregon. IPPM detection and survey programs provide a second line of defense to protect our natural resources and markets. When an exotic pest population is detected in Oregon, eradication and control programs are implemented when feasible.
Our professional personnel also perform identification services, pest risk-assessments, and inspections for several state and federal permit programs. Surveys for our agricultural and horticultural crops often meet the entry requirements of national and international customers. Sharing information with the public and with industry groups has become increasingly important in fulfilling our purpose. Our survey data are documented in IPPM databases and maps and nationally in the National Agricultural Pest Information System (NAPIS) database.
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| Highlights |
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- We successfully completed three aerial applications of the biological insecticide Btk on a 268-acre gypsy moth eradication area near Eagle Creek.
- No gypsy moth infestations were detected in 2005. For only the third time since 1980, we are planning no gypsy moth eradication program for 2006.
- A total of four Japanese beetles were trapped at the Portland International Airport.
- Our cooperative exotic woodborer trapping program continued for the ninth year. A scolytid screening aid was developed and training in its use provided for insect screeners primarily in the western region, but also nationally.
- ODA sought to eradicate an exotic woodborer, the granulate ambrosia beetle, using pesticide treatments in the vicinity of a railroad tie treatment plant in The Dalles.
- In support of the exotic woodborer eradication program, a record number of funnel traps (179) were set and woodborers identified in a timely manner to facilitate treatment decisions.
- Surveys did not detect apple leaf miner, apple tortrix, Asian longhorned beetle, blueberry maggot, dark fruit tree tortrix, emerald ash borer, European chafer, leek moth, Oriental beetle, or summer fruit tortrix, in Oregon. Apple ermine moth, apple maggot, cereal leaf beetle or cherry bark tortix surveys did not find any expansion of their ranges in Oregon.
- Two European wireworm species have now been detected in Multnomah and either Columbia or Clackamas counties, but not in traps placed in 17 other counties.
- A new survey found potato tuberworm moths in many of Oregon’s major potato producing regions.
- The positive public response to press releases on brown marmorated stink bug showed that this orchard and nuisance pest is established in Portland.
- Identification of nontarget species in funnel traps in The Dalles (and subsequently in a 2003 exotic moth trap in Dufur) detected a new state record: Hecatera dysodea, whose larvae feed on the flowers and seeds of composites, primarily lettuce and sow thistles. New Western records for oak timberworm, hickory ambrosia beetle, and a hardwood-feeding platypodid, Euplatypus compositus, were detected in light traps in The Dalles. In Coos Bay the European cutworm moth, Noctua pronuba, first discovered in Oregon in 2002, was found in light traps.
- Over 64,751 acres in eight Oregon counties were found to be at risk of economic infestations of grasshoppers in 2006. Mormon cricket populations were recorded on over 4,709 acres in Baker, Gilliam, Malheur, and Wallowa counties.
- Technical advice on grasshopper infestation levels and control options was provided to land owners and managers. In the Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, grassland on 276 acres was protected from nymphal infestations using ground applications of Dimilin on 50 percent of the acreage at the end of June.
- Our second successful overwintering recovery of the cereal leaf beetle egg parasitoid occurred in the Banks field insectary after two previous years of releases. Parasitism rates reached 30 percent by late June and maybe a source of egg parasitoids for re-distribution within Oregon in 2006.
- The first insectary for cereal leaf beetle egg parasitoids in eastern Oregon was initiated at the OSU Agricultural Research Center in Union County.
- The exceptionally high parasitism rates by cereal leaf beetle larval parasitoids in Multnomah, Union, and Washington county fields (84-100 percent) allowed us to begin re-distribution of this parasitoid between Oregon grain fields for the first time.
Fully staffed for the first time by mid-2005, our IPPM team met new challenges this year: planning and implementing six different eradication or control projects (one new) and over 22 survey programs (three new). Several new invasive insect records were also identified. National recognition was again earned, this time by our exotic woodborer taxonomic team, and seven papers published. In contrast to 20 years ago, when we fielded only five insect survey programs and conducted one major eradication project, our programs have become more complex. The dedication of our IPPM staff, their continued development of our excellence in technical and field expertise, and their positive collaboration with each other, cooperators, volunteers, and the public were essential to our successful implementation of these programs designed to protect and enhance Oregon’s natural resources, economy, and quality of life. Thanks to each one of you. It is an honor to work with you. Special recognition is due Dan Hilburn and the entire ICS team for leading the early eradication effort in The Dalles and to Kerri Schwarz for facilitating our many programs with great GIS maps and for working with the field offices as they develop their own GIS capabilities. Thanks also to our volunteers and many cooperators in Oregon, nationally and internationally. We will again need everyone’s best contributions to face, successfully, the challenges of 2006.
Back row (left to right): Josh Vlach, Terri Stafford, Diana Kimberling, Jim LaBonte.
Middle row: Bennett Huffman, Bill Rivers, Barry Bai, Steve Valley, Helmuth Rogg.
Front Row: Todd Adams, Alan Mudge, Bill Giacomazzi, Kathleen Johnson, Kerri Schwarz, Rich Worth.
Rick Westcott and Steve Finch were not present for the photo.
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| Apple ermine moth |
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Apple ermine moth (AEM), Yponomeuta malinellus, is a European native first detected in North America (British Columbia) in 1985, and in Oregon in 1991. By 2003, AEM had spread to 18 counties in northwest Oregon. In 2005, 192 traps were placed in 15 counties to detect further spread and to monitor population levels. Most traps were placed in non-infested counties adjacent to counties with previous AEM catches. No new AEM were detected in uninfested counties.
AEM distribution map of Oregon
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| Apple leaf miner |
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The apple leaf miner (ALM), Leucoptera malifoliella, occurs in middle and southern Europe, the Middle East, parts of the former Soviet Union, and northern China. A pest of apple, pear, and, to a lesser extent, plum, quince, and hawthorne, ALM could survive throughout the US wherever host plants occur. Commercial shipments of apples, nursery stock, or scion material from Europe are the most likely pathways. In 2005, 299 diamond traps were set in 12 counties; lures were changed once during the season. No ALM were detected in Oregon.
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| Apple maggot |
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During 2005, apple maggot (AM), Rhagoletis pomonella, trapping was conducted to provide certification of apples for fresh market sales to Washington and Arizona under the terms of those states’ permits and to detect AM in apple growing areas where it has not been known to occur. In Hood River County two AM flies were trapped at two of 48 sites, compared to two AM at two of 61 sites in 2004. The host trees were cut down and removed. Neither detection was close enough to an orchard to have an impact on fresh market production. For the fifth year, no AM survey program in apples was conducted in Wasco County, where all the commercial apples were placed into cold storage. Trapping in northeastern Oregon continued for protection of commercial apple orchards. Six traps were set in Arlington in Gilliam County and 61 traps were placed in Adams (1), Athena (6), Milton-Freewater (21), Pendleton (25), Pilot Rock (3) and Weston (5) in Umatilla County; AM was not detected. In southwest Pendleton where AM was first detected in 2001, no further monitoring or treatment was conducted by ODA for AM in that area. However, bait attractancy studies for AM were conducted by OSU in this area of Pendleton in 2005. A special AM trapping program was conducted in Hood River and Wasco counties to assist in the marketing of cherry fruits to Mexico. Four AM flies were caught at one site (in hawthorn), which posed no threat to movement of cherries.
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| Apple tortrix |
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Apple tortrix, Archips fuscocupreanus, is a pest originally from Japan and Korea. It attacks apple, stone fruits, filbert, azalea, horse chestnut, potentilla, and other plants. This pest is considered the second most economically important pest of apples in Japan. Washington first detected apple tortrix in several western counties in 1995 during a statewide cherry ermine moth (CEM) survey. Because of the attractiveness of CEM lures to apple tortrix, 368 CEM traps were placed in 13 Oregon counties to detect both CEM and apple tortrix in 2005. Apple tortrix has not yet been detected in Oregon.
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| Asian longhorned beetle |
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In 2005, surveys continued for Asian longhorned beetle (ALB), Anoplophora glabripennis. A woodboring beetle native to China and Korea, ALB larvae feed on hardwoods, eventually killing them. Maple, poplar, birch, elm, willow, and horsechestnut are its preferred hosts. ALB infestations were found in Brooklyn and Amityville, NY; Chicago, IL; Jersey City, NJ; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and the Carteret-Linden-Rahway-Woodbridge area, NJ in 1996, 1998, 2002, 2003, and 2004 respectively. Efforts to delimit and eradicate these infestations continue. ALB was first reported by a member of the public in Illinois, New Jersey, and New York, indicating how crucial an educated public can be in finding exotic pests. An ODA “Story of the Week” highlighting ALB was released in August 2005. Information and pictures of ALB are maintained on the Plant Division Web site for easy public access. As no effective traps are currently available, 13,513 host trees in 31 counties were visually surveyed for typical ALB damage at 6,369 sites where other pest detection traps (e.g. gypsy moth, Japanese beetle) were present. No ALBs have been found to date in Oregon.
A survey of high-risk sites for ALB and other exotic woodborers was reinitiated in 2005. Forty-six businesses receiving commodities with solid wood packing material (SWPM) primarily from China, Korea, and Europe were interviewed in December regarding their importation and SWPM handling practices and pest risk. ALB posters and pest alerts were left with each importer. Visual surveys of hosts were then conducted at five of the high-risk sites. Sites identified with various risk levels can be mapped to show “hot zones” and may be targeted for additional host visual surveys for ALB and/or surveys for other invasive insects.
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| Blueberry maggot |
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The blueberry maggot (BBM), Rhagoletis mendax, is native to the eastern United States and Canada. Without pesticide treatments, in some fields in infested areas nearly all of the berries may be attacked. Infested berries become soft and mushy. Berries sold for processing in infested areas have a zero tolerance for blueberry maggots. A pest of blueberry, deerberry, and huckleberry, BBM is a serious threat to Oregon’s blueberry industry. Oregon ranked fifth in the US for acres of blueberry harvested and first for yield per acre. In order to protect our high blueberry yield production and markets, Oregon has a blueberry maggot quarantine for infested states to prevent BBM from entering and establishing in Oregon. In 2005, about 274 traps were placed in 17 western Oregon counties. No blueberry maggots were detected.
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| Brown marmorated stink bug |
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The first brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys, recorded west of the Mississippi River was collected in an exotic woodboring insect trap in SE Portland on August 4, 2004. Native to China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, the earliest known US specimens were collected in Pennsylvania in 1996 but later identified in 2001. Previously known to be established in Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, BMSB were also discovered in 2005 in Delaware and West Virginia and intercepted in California.
A press release announcing the original Oregon detection was made in early January 2005. Additional Portland specimens (most from Multnomah County, but a few from Washington County) were subsequently found and reported by residents. A single specimen collected in Hillsboro, Washington County, in either 2001 or 2002 (precise data are lacking) was also found in the Washington County Extension Service insect collection. One BMSB specimen was found in Salem, Marion County. In June 2005, participants at a BMSB regional conference collected numerous specimens and acquired several new host records in the Portland area where the original specimen was found. This pest is clearly established in Portland. Results from searching in Hillsboro were negative and no further specimens of BMSB were found in Salem. A second press release in November 2005 resulted only in additional records from areas of Portland previously known to be infested. The lack of an effective trap and lure for BMSB limits our ability to survey for this pest.
BMSB is considered a major agricultural pest in Asia. An unselective feeder, BMSB attacks and damages a wide variety of crops (including tree fruits) and many plants important in Oregon’s nursery industry. Having already caused heavy damage to some Pennsylvania organic peach orchards, BMSB could become an orchard pest here. This stink bug can also be a significant nuisance pest, invading houses in great numbers in the fall and winter. In fact, other than the record from 2004 and the specimens collected during the BMSB conference, all Oregon specimens were found by residents in their homes.
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| Cereal leaf beetle |
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Cereal leaf beetle, Oulema melanopus (CLB), was first identified in Michigan in 1962 as an introduced pest from Europe. Oregon first found CLB in 1999 in Malheur County. A statewide survey did not detect CLB in any new counties in 2005. To date, CLB has been detected in 19 counties: Baker, Benton, Clackamas, Columbia, Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson, Lane, Linn, Malheur, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Washington, and Yamhill.
ODA’s Plant Division works with the Commodity Inspection Division to reduce the impact of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) CLB quarantine on small grain, fresh corn, and hay and straw producers. A master permit was renewed to allow bulk shipments of small grains grown and stored in Oregon to be shipped to California from December 1 through April 30. A second master permit was renewed in 2005 to allow small grains and grass seeds from Oregon to be shipped in large containers (>100 pounds) year round. CDFA also renewed two permits for shipment of fresh ear corn from Linn and Marion counties to California. In 2003 CDFA modified their quarantine to exempt compressed, baled hay and straw. Nursery and Christmas tree growers were also affected by CDFA’s quarantine. CDFA renewed a master permit to allow entry of pines one inch or less in diameter, if accompanied by the appropriate certification from ODA.
Biological control has been effective in the eastern US where CLB at first caused serious damage. The cooperative biological control program among ODA, USDA, and OSU for CLB in Oregon began immediately after its detection in 1999. The program now has six field insectaries, three for the egg parasitoid Anaphes flavipes in Washington and Union counties, and another three for the larval parasitoid Tetrastichus julis in Benton, Jefferson, and Union counties.
Anaphes field insectary in Union The natural increase of the overwintering egg parasitoid was monitored for a second year in the Anaphes flavipes insectary near Banks in Washington County, where it was first initiated in 2002. The parasitism rate peaked in late June to early July at about 30 percent, similar to the peak parasitism rate in 2004. An estimated 15,690 A. flavipes were released at the Scholls insectary, also in Washington County, for a second year. Releases were made there so as not to interfere with recovery efforts at the Banks insectary. Overwintering recovery efforts in Scholls did not detect overwintering of the parasitoid following the first releases there in 2004. The first release of the egg parasitoid in eastern Oregon occurred in 2005 at a new A. flavipes insectary at the OSU Agricultural Research Center in Union County, only 0.25 mile from the already established T. julis insectary. An estimated 16,214 A. flavipes were released at this new insectary.
The source for the A. flavipes releases was Colorado Department. of Agriculture’s Biocontrol Lab in Palisade, Colorado. As in previous years, most of these A. flavipes wasps were released as parasitized CLB eggs on oat leaves and placed with a sponge inside small, modified paper milk cartons mounted on wooden stakes in the field. The rest were released as parasitized CLB eggs in small petri dishes inside the same carton and stake assembly.
Three insectaries for the larval parasitoid, T. julis, were active in 2005. OSU’s Hyslop Farm insectary in Benton County was the only one that received T. julis releases. The Madras insectary field in Jefferson County had CLB numbers too low to release T. julis in 2005. For a second year the overwintering T. julis population at the Union County insectary was allowed to increase naturally. Although parasitism recovery rates were low in the Hyslop insectary field, the first overwintering recovery of T. julis in the Hyslop insectary occurred in 2005 after only one year of releases.
Widespread recovery of T. julis was achieved in 2005 with exceptionally high parasitism rates in some locations where it was previously released. The peak parasitism rates of T. julis found in each positive county were as follows: Baker (57 percent), Benton (1 percent), Linn (67 percent), Malheur (3 percent), Multnomah (100 percent), Union (91 percent), Washington (84 percent). T. julis was also recovered in Linn County where it had never been released before suggesting that it is now spreading through parts of western Oregon naturally.
Tetrastichus julis were released in four counties. The number of CLB larvae (and estimated number of T. julis) released in each county are: Benton, 2,987 (12,784); Linn, 850 (3,519); Malheur, 2,459 (3,566); Marion, 803 (3,291). Parasitized CLB larvae were acquired from Pennsylvania (20); Wyoming (1,012); Montana (2,459); and Oregon: Multnomah County (20); Union County (3,058); and Washington County (530). The parasitism rates among CLB release material from all areas, ranged from 29 percent to 100 percent.
Although moderate CLB populations exist in the insectary fields, CLB adults and larvae were collected and redistributed to the insectary fields to augment the number of eggs and larvae for parasitizing. The numbers of CLB moved to each field in 2005 were: Hyslop 8,800 (Benton County); Madras 9,700 (Jefferson County); Union 11,530 (Union County); and Banks 8,600, Scholls 10,100 (Washington County). We also sent 20,220 adults to Colorado to support the egg parasitoid production there.
Successful biological control is needed for a healthier farm and landscape environment. A pesticide warehouse survey by USDA in 2005 indicated that insecticide-treated acreage for CLB in Oregon had dramatically increased from none in 1999, to 1,390 acres in 2000, 12,217 acres in 2001, 26,703 acres in 2002, 38,309 acres in 2003, and 64,200 acres in 2004 but had gone down slightly in 2005 to 50,175 acres due to reduced grain acreage.
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| Cherry bark tortrix |
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Cherry bark tortrix (CBT), Enarmonia formosana, was first discovered in British Columbia in 1989 and in Washington in 1991. The first detection in Oregon was in 2000, when single CBT moths were found in each of two traps set about five miles apart in Multnomah and Clackamas counties. Intensive trapping in the positive areas resulted in 16 moths in 2001, 1,020 moths in 2002, 1,389 moths in 2003, and 792 moths in 2004. A collaborative survey and biological control program by ODA, Washington State University (WSU), and USDA Niles Bio-control Lab was funded by the Oregon Association of Nurseries and the Washington State Commission on Pesticide Registration for two years during 2002-2003. The main purpose of the program was to delimit the CBT infestation, slow the spread of CBT, and protect high value trees by releasing CBT egg parasitoids. This program was continued in 2004 and 2005 by ODA and WSU.
In 2005, about 1,001 CBT traps were placed in 13 counties in northwest Oregon, an increase from the 926 CBT traps placed in 2004. In Multnomah and Clackamas counties, 723 traps were set around the previously infested (epicenter) areas to delimit the spread and distribution of CBT. Detection traps were also placed in most adjacent counties. About 1,650 moths were trapped in 2005, all in the Portland metro area of Multnomah and Clackamas counties. Again, no new detections were made in Marion County where a single moth was trapped in Silverton, about six miles from the Clackamas County border in 2003. Clackamas, Marion, and Multnomah counties remain the only CBT-positive counties in Oregon.
ODA’s cooperative project with WSU to find effective biological controls against CBT continued in 2005. Egg parasitoids, Trichogramma cacoeciae, were again released, from June to September 2005, in the infestation center in Portland. WSU was primarily responsible for releasing about three million parasitoids in heavily infested areas in 2005. Although the CBT population has increased gradually, it has not spread to any new counties in the last three years. These results suggest that these wasps have effectively slowed the spread of the CBT and stabilized the pest’s population.
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| Cherry ermine moth |
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Cherry ermine moth (CEM), Yponomeuta padellus, was discovered in British Columbia in 1993, in Washington in 1994, and was found in Oregon in 1996 when a single CEM was trapped in Multnomah County. This insect was not caught in Oregon from 1997-2004. Survey technicians placed 368 cherry ermine moth traps in 13 counties along the Oregon/Washington border and throughout the Willamette Valley in 2005. One cherry ermine moth was trapped in southeast Portland, in 2005.
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| Dark fruit tree tortrix |
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The dark fruit tree tortrix, Pandemis heparana, a pest from Eurasia, was first detected in British Columbia, Canada in 1978 and in Whatcom County, Washington in 1994 during a general survey of apple pests. By 1996 it had spread south to Clark County, Washington, on the Oregon border. Pandemis heparana has only been found in Oregon in Washington and Multnomah counties among specimens reared from larvae collected from Prunus trees in 1997 and 1998. In the survey for exotic insects on Prunus trees, the P. heparana specimens were among many other similar-looking leafroller moths and were later identified in 2002 as P. heparana. Survey technicians placed 122 P. heparana traps in four counties in northwestern Oregon in 2005. Once again, P. heparana was not detected in traps in Oregon.
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| Emerald ash borer |
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In 2005, visual surveys continued for emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis. Native to Asia, this woodborer attacks true ashes (Fraxinus spp.) and causes 100 percent mortality of infested trees. This serious pest was first identified in North America in July 2002, in southeast Michigan but has now been found established in nearby areas of Ontario, Canada (2002), Ohio (2003), and Indiana (2004). EAB is introduced into new areas through trade or other movement of infested materials such as firewood and nursery stock. Especially suspect are solid wood packing materials such as pallets and spools from Asia (or heavily infested areas in North America such as Michigan). Eradication of EAB found in Maryland in 2003 and in Virginia 2004, suspected to be from imported Michigan nursery stock, is continuing.
As effective traps are not currently available, 1,634 ash trees were visually surveyed for typical EAB damage at 745 sites in 18 counties where other pest detection or ash trees were present. Public education continues to be an important factor in detecting EAB and other invasive species. An ODA press release in August 2005 highlighting EAB encouraged anyone seeing possible signs of EAB to contact ODA. No EABs have been found to date in Oregon.
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| European chafer |
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European chafer (EC), Rhizotrogus majalis is a major pest of forage crops and winter grains in Europe. EC was first found in 1940 in New Jersey and has since spread to much of the northeastern US and adjacent Canada. It was recently found in Michigan, where it has rapidly become the most serious white grub pest of residential lawns. Where both are established, turf damage by EC rivals, or exceeds, that of Japanese beetle. It is a serious emerging pest of many row crops, especially winter wheat. Up to 80 percent loss has been documented in New York permanent pastures and small grains.
European chafer was found in southern British Columbia in 2001, where it is causing extensive damage to home lawns. Surveys for this species in adjacent Washington have so far been negative. Introduction pathways are similar to those for Japanese beetle and include public or private transport, move-ins, or the nursery trade. Dead EC adults have been intercepted on cargo aircraft at Portland International Airport. The current range of EC leaves no doubt it could establish and flourish in Oregon. In addition to damaging turf, EC threatens Oregon’s grass seed, small grain, nursery, vegetable and field crops.
Peak adult activity occurs from June through July. Adults fly from turf or other areas on the ground where they shelter during the day and aggregate in trees at twilight for mating. Once settled in a tree, adults can be attracted using ultraviolet light (UV or “black-light”) making UV light traps currently the most effective survey tool for EC. Twenty-five sites were surveyed for EC using one or more portable, battery-operated UV light traps per night. Traps were placed for one or more nights per site and rotated between sites for a total of 58 trap nights. Suitable trap sites must meet several criteria, i.e., they must be accessible, have trees large enough to stimulate aggregation, and be secure from trap-tampering at night. Sites surveyed included nurseries receiving nursery stock from British Columbia, golf courses and business parks adjacent to Portland International Airport, cemeteries, the Washington Park Zoo, as well as other sites. Trap samples were collected the following morning and screened in the lab for EC adults. No EC was found.
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| European wireworms |
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The larvae, or wireworms, of two species of European click beetles, Agriotes lineatus and A. obscurus, are among the most destructive pests of spring-planted seeds in Europe, destroying seeds, roots, and root and tuber crops. Both species have been established in southwestern British Columbia since at least 1950 and may have been present since before 1900. Agriotes lineatus is thought to have been introduced via ballast soil, while A. obscurus may have arrived with infested hops for agricultural research. Agriotes lineatus and A. obscurus can be readily transported in soil associated with nursery stock or residential ornamental and vegetable plants. In 1997, A. obscurus was found in northern Washington and both species are now known to occur in that area. In British Columbia, control efforts are necessary to prevent severe economic damage to corn, potatoes, and other crops. Significant damage to field corn and seed potatoes by European wireworms has been recently noted in northwestern Washington.
Oregon’s first EWW survey was conducted in 2004 at 15 high-risk sites in the northwest Oregon. A more extensive survey of 54 high-risk sites took place in 2005 in Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Coos, Hood River, Jackson, Klamath, Lane, Linn, Malheur, Marion, Polk, Tillamook, Umatilla, Wallowa, Wasco, Washington and Yamhill counties. These sites included agricultural experiment stations which may have imported research material from Europe, landfills that could have received infested soil or ballast, nurseries known to receive large volumes of stock from infested areas of Canada and Washington, and port areas near known or suspected historical ballast sites. Adults of both species are generally active from April through June, so traps were in place from mid-March through mid-July. As interference occurs between the species-specific pheromone lures, each Vernon beetle trap could only be used for a single species. Thus, each site had two traps per species, with a total of 30 traps per species overall in 2004 and 108 per species in 2005. Unfortunately, the 2005 survey was flawed because many of the traps were defective due to a manufacturing error. This error was not discovered until about mid-season; defective traps were promptly replaced. Samples were taken every one or two weeks.
Both species of European wireworm were found in Oregon in 2004 and 2005. In 2004, eight specimens of A. lineatus were trapped at four localities in the vicinity of the Port of Portland, Multnomah County, and six specimens of A. obscurus were trapped at two nurseries in eastern Clackamas County. In 2005, four specimens of A. lineatus were trapped at a port area at Rainier, Columbia County, and at a nursery in Gresham, Multnomah County. One specimen of A. obscurus was trapped in 2005, at the same nursery in Gresham, Multnomah County. Given the sedentary nature of these beetles and the limited distance over which the traps are known to be effective, these detections likely indicate established populations.
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| Exotic woodboring insects (EWBI) |
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Since foreign and domestic timber and wood products continue to be imported into the Pacific Northwest, surveys for exotic woodboring and wood associated beetles and wood wasps using baited Lindgren funnel traps were conducted in 2005, as in the eight prior years. A new facet to the survey was added in 2004, using ultraviolet (UV or “black light”) light traps to survey for exotic defoliating and stem/twig boring insects (especially moths) that might also be transported via wood products and packing materials, as well as associated commodities. This method can also be used to detect woodboring and wood associated beetles and wasps that might not be attracted to funnel traps and lures.
EWBI—general survey
Four high-risk sites were selected for general EWBI funnel trap survey: one railroad tie treatment mill in The Dalles where many EWBI have been previously detected, a port area in Coos Bay that has not been trapped for several years, a dispersed urban forest site in Coos Bay and the Portland Zoo, a site which was deemed at high risk of importing potentially infested host material. Two sets of four 12-funnel Lindgren traps were placed at the mill. Only one set of four traps was placed at each of the three other sites. Each trap of a set was baited with a different lure, as follows: ultra-high release (UHR) ethanol alone, UHR ethanol with UHR alpha-pinene; exotic Ips pheromone, and 4 UHR ethanol lures together. The traps were sampled biweekly from initial placement in February until removal in mid-October. One intersecting panel UV bucket-style light trap, powered by a rechargable 12 volt DC battery, was set at intervals corresponding to the new moon phase from May through early October at the urban forest site in Coos Bay. The trap was run overnight twice during each sampling period, except October. Shell No-PestTM strips were used as the knock down and killing agent.
EWBI—pine shoot beetle
As in all years from 1997 on (although the results from 2004, all negative, at 47 sites in 11 counties, were accidentally omitted from last years’ report), a specific survey targeting the pine shoot beetle, Tomicus piniperda, was conducted. Funnel traps using a five-component lure were placed at 53 high-risk sites in 14 counties. These sites included wood recyclers, port areas, and businesses importing goods from Europe that included solid wood packing material. Trapping was conducted from November 2004 through May 2005. Survey results were negative. Trapping for T. piniperda (as well as T. destruens and T. minor) commenced again in November 2005. Survey results for this new round of trapping have been negative through the end of 2005.
EWBI—delimitation survey in The Dalles
Following the detection of several exotic species in 2004, delimitation trapping was conducted in The Dalles. These species, Euplatypus compositus and Oxoplatypus quadridentatus (Platypodidae) and the bark beetles (Scolytidae), Monathrum fasciatum, M. mali, and Xylosandrus crassiusculus, pose risks to Oregon agriculture, particularly the fruit and nursery industries. This is especially true of X. crassiusculus, the granulate ambrosia beetle, an Asian species, which has become a significant nursery pest in the southeastern US and adjacent Texas. In addition to the regular sets of traps in The Dalles, 179 delimitation traps with single UHR ethanol lures were deployed from late March through mid-October. Traps on the tie plant premises and in the immediate vicinity (about 25) are being maintained from mid-October through the 2006 trapping season to detect activity of X. crassiusculus that may occur during winter warm spells. The full array of delimitation traps will be restored in March 2006. Two UV-light traps were deployed on plant premises from July through early October because of the risk of red oak borer (Cerambycidae: Enaphalodes rufulus) coming in with the oak ties from the Southeast. Protocols were similar to those for the general EWBI survey.
EWBI—eradication treatments in The Dalles
The large numbers of X. crassiusculus and small, but persistent, catches of Euplatypus compositus caught in 2005 led to development, in close cooperation with local industry and government leaders, of an eradication plan for these species in The Dalles. Two applications of Masterline Permethrin Plus-C were made to potential host shrubs and trees in the railroad tie treatment plant and vicinity and two applications of Perm-Up 3.2 EC to the raw railroad ties at the plant itself. ODA staff oversaw both applications, except for the first application on the tie plant itself. The first application to an 812 acre eradication area was accomplished in two phases: the area surrounding the tie treatment plant from July 6-9, 2005, by commercial applicators under contract by ODA and the tie treatment plant and railroad tie stacks in July by commercial applicators under contract with railroad owners. The second application, made on September 21-24, 2005, covered a 394 acre eradication area, including the tie treatment plant and nearby city park, roadside and commercial areas.
An important component of the eradication effort was the voluntary willingness of the tie plant to process first the raw hardwood ties from the Southeast, which were a potential ongoing source of target pests. All of the approximately one-half million high-risk ties were heat-sterilized and creosoted by mid-October. The tie plant also developed more stringent criteria for the quality of ties that it would accept and implemented protocols to immediately return or destroy substandard ties with visible woodborer damage, bark fragments, or rot pockets. As a precaution against emergence by target species during warm spells in late fall and winter, 25 of the delimitation traps in the core area in and near the plant remained active through the fall and winter, with samples being taken at the normal bi-weekly intervals. A third pesticide application and full-scale delimitation trapping is planned to begin in March-April 2006.
EWBI—2005 results
All funnel trap samples taken through the end of 2005 have been sorted and examined for target species. A total of 58,516 buprestids, cerambycids, playtpodids, scolytids, and siricids were identified in 2005 (including those from The Dalles delimitation traps). A single specimen of an eastern indigenous ash tree-attacking bark beetle, Hylesinus criddlei, was found in a pine shoot beetle trap in Hermiston (Umatilla County), near a regional airport. This was the first known record of this species from the western United States. Limited delimitation trapping for this species is planned for 2006. Arrhenodes minutus , the oak timberworm, an eastern US pest of hardwoods found at The Dalles.The remainder of significant or new exotic woodboring beetle records were from the delimitation efforts in The Dalles. These included a single specimen of the oak timberworm, Arrhenodes minutus (Brentidae) and several specimens of the hickory ambrosia beetle, Xyleborus celsus (Scolytidae). Both species are indigenous to eastern North America and these are the first Western trapping records. The oak timberworm is a known pest of various hardwoods and can be a vector of the oak wilt fungus. Both these species were captured in the UV-light traps instead of the funnel traps. Most of the E. compositus specimens were also collected via the light traps. These traps may become a valuable adjunct to our woodboring insect survey efforts in The Dalles and elsewhere.
A total of 54,122 woodborers were identified from The Dalles traps through the end of 2005. The totals of exotic target species trapped at The Dalles were, respectively: Euplatypus compositus (6), Monarthrum fasciatum (12), M. mali (17), Oxoplatypus quadridentatus (0), and Xylosandrus crassiusculus (109). No M. fasciatum or M. mali were trapped after June 29, E. compositus were captured from June 30 through September 2 (a peak of three in the July 19-August 3 sample period), and X. crassiusculus were trapped from April 18 through October 20 (a peak of 38 in the May 3-May 12 sample period). All E. compositus catches were confined to a small area along the northeastern edge of the tie plant premises. Although most were caught within the plant premises, several M. fasciatus and M. mali were trapped up to 1.5 miles from the plant. All but three X. crassiusculus were trapped on the plant premises or in the immediate vicinity thereof. One trap, about a half mile west of the plant, caught two X. crassiusculus and another trap, about a half mile east of the plant, captured one X. crassiusculus. Both of these trap catches occurred during the peak X. crassiusculus catch and neither trap caught X. crassiusculus thereafter. One X. crassiusculus was trapped during the sample period immediately following the last (mid-September) pesticide application. No pine shoot beetles were trapped.
The 2005 UV-light trapping centered in Coos Bay yielded no exotic species new to Oregon. While not a target species, the European cutworm moth, Noctua pronuba (Noctuidae), was the most abundant species of all moths in the Coos Bay samples. First discovered in Oregon in 2002, it has become widespread in the state. The rapid expansion and increased trap abundance of this exotic species suggests that it may become a significant garden pest.
Another significant lepidopteran find is the noctuid Hecatera dysodea (Denis & Schiffermuller). Native to Europe and east to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan and western and southern Siberia, it was found in numbers in the Xylosandrus crassiusculus delimitation traps in The Dalles in 2005. These catches led to the first North American record for this species; a single specimen was found in 2003 as a non-target catch in a Helicoverpa armigera trap in Dufur, Wasco County. It was not recognized as exotic H. dysodea until further investigation of the specimens from 2005. No H. dysodea were collected from our light trap at the railroad tie plant in The Dalles in 2004 or 2005, suggesting that this species may only be weakly attracted to ultraviolet light.
The current numbers and known distribution indicate that H. dysodea has likely been present since around 1999 or 2000, and that The Dalles is a likely point of introduction. The larvae feed on the flowers and seeds of composites, primarily Lactuca (lettuce) and Sonchus (sow thistles), most species of which are also exotic to Oregon. This species is not known to be a pest but may pose a risk to lettuce grown for seed.
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Please see the next page for a continuation of Section Three: IPPM Section which includes:
Early Detection and Rapid Response (to exotic woodborers) Project (EDRR)
Grasshopper
Gypsy moth
Japanese beetle
Onion maggot control order in Malheur county
Oriental beetle
Potato tuberworm
Summer fruit tortrix
Miscellaneous insect identification and new records
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