Biological Control for Colorado

Biological Control for Colorado. I'm Greg Martin with Lacy Gray for Colorado Ag Today.

MARTIN: If you are an emerald ash borer or EAB that has been making your home near Boulder things are about to get a bit more exciting for you.

GRAY: Colorado's EAB Response Team is coordinating the dispersal of the first 200 gnat-sized stingless, parasitic wasps, which target EAB eggs specifically, at known infested sites. This is the second species of EAB parasitoid to be released in Colorado.

MARTIN: The Colorado Department of Agriculture, University of Colorado and City of Boulder are working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to help suppress EAB populations in the city and manage the insect's spread.

GRAY: Oobius agrili is the smallest of three parasitoid wasp species used as EAB biocontrols, and the only one that targets EAB eggs. When the wasp locates an EAB egg in tree bark crevices, it inserts its own egg inside the host egg, where it will hatch, grow and kill the EAB larva before it can emerge. The stingless wasps pose no threat to people or pets.

MARTIN: EAB, a non-native pest responsible for the death of tens of millions of ash trees in the United States, was confirmed in the City of Boulder in September 2013. The exotic insect has become a concern for communities all over Colorado because each year it can fly up to a half-mile to infest new trees.

And that's Colorado Ag Today. I'm Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.