
Glickman Announces USDA Testing of New Lure
to Help Combat Asian Longhorned BeetleBy Sandy Hays July 22, 1999Permit to Be Required for Interstate
Shipment of All Invasive Plants WASHINGTON, July 22Agriculture Secretary
Dan Glickmantoday announced that USDA researchers have
developed and are now testing a new chemical attractant and lure that may help
combat the pesky Asian
longhorned beetle, an invasive species that has destroyed hardwood trees in
Chicago and Brooklyn, New York neighborhoods. Our goal is to eradicate this pest, said Glickman, addressing
the first meeting of the Presidents Council on Invasive Species.
And this new lure could help us set up a Roach Motel with lifetime rooms
set aside specifically for Asian longhorned beetles. Glickman also announced that USDA will prohibit any interstate movement of
invasive plants, listed in the
Federal
Noxious Weed Act regulations, without a permit. Currently, a permit from
USDAs Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service is required only where a quarantine exists. The new
policy, which will be published in the Federal Register soon, will better
prevent the unplanned and potentially damaging spread of invasive plants into
non-infested areas of the United States. Believe it or not: People can now order some invasive plants out of
gardening catalogs and have them delivered right to their door, said
Glickman. If we are going to fight these weeds and prevent the
environmental and economic havoc they can wreak, this step is absolutely
essential. To create the beetle lure, USDA scientists first isolated two chemicals
produced by male beetles. They then made artificial copies that appear to be
potent attractants for both sexes. During promising lab tests, the two
synthetic pheromones were the only substances, from either plants or insects,
that interested the beetles enough to encourage them to fly toward the source
in a wind tunnel. Field tests in China are currently underway. If the
attractant is effective and works at appropriate distances, baited traps can be
used in the United States to help flush out undetected beetle infestations and
monitor high-risk areas, such as import warehouses and ports, for new
introductions. The lure was discovered by entomologist Jeffrey Aldrich and chemists
James E. Oliver and
Aijun Zhang of the Agricultural Research
Services Insect
Chemical Ecology Laboratory in Beltsville, Md. Entomologist David Lance of
USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service developed the trap. A
patent application was filed earlier this month for the new pheromones. Last year, Glickman announced that USDA would ban the import of all
untreated solid wood packing material from China, source of the Asian
longhorned beetle. This preventive step has already reduced the number of
beetle interceptions in the United States. The President established the Council on Invasive Species in February to
coordinate and intensify federal, state, and local efforts to fight non-native
plants and animals. The Council, which is chaired by Glickman, Interior
Secretary Bruce Babbitt,
and Commerce Secretary
William
Daley, will work cooperatively with state and local officials, tribes,
scientists, universities, environmental groups, farm organizations, shipping
interests, and the business community to create a detailed invasive species
management plan. Many ecologists believe the spread of exotic species constitutes one of the
most serious, yet least appreciated, threats to biodiversity. Invasive species
inflict a heavy toll on American agriculture, reducing the quality and raising
the cost of food, feed, and fiber. Experts estimate that invasive plants have
already infested over 100 million acres. Three million acres, an area twice the
size of Delaware, is lost to invasive plants each year. The total economic
impact of invasive species on the U.S. economy is estimated to be about $123
billion annually. Scientific contact: Jeffrey Aldrich,
Insect Chemical Ecology Laboratory, Beltsville, Md., (301) 504-8531,
[email protected]. U.S. Department of Agriculture | |