An adult Asian
longhorned beetle feeds on the bark of a sentinel tree. Click the image for
more information about it.
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Maple Tree Species Is Asian Longhorned
Beetle's Favorite By
Erin Peabody February 4, 2004
To an adult Asian longhorned beetle (ALB), the wafting aromas of
a certain maple tree, the Shantung maple (Acer mono), are downright
irresistible. This finding by an Agricultural Research Service scientist is
central to new tactics in the battle against the beetle, an invasive insect
that threatens to destroy deciduous trees across the eastern United States and
Canada.
ARS insect behaviorist Michael T. Smith has found that the
beetles are drawn to the aromatic chemicals--called "volatiles"--of some tree
species. Significantly, these trees may be used in efforts to detect, capture
and kill the unwelcome insect.
Smith determined the maple tree's status as a highly attractive
species during field studies in Gansu Province, China. Like the beetle, the
tree species is native to eastern China.
Acting as a sentinel tree, an attractive tree species may be
planted, or set out in pots, in an area thought to be infested by the beetle
pests. When treated with an insecticide or other killing agent prior to its
use, a sentinel tree can be transformed into a lethal "attract-and-kill"
system.
Detecting the beetle has, up to now, been one of the most trying
aspects of ALB eradication. That's largely due to the insect's cryptic nature.
For most of its life cycle, the beetle stays hidden deep within the tree,
feeding on vital tissues.
Smith, who works at the agency's
Beneficial Insects Introduction Research
Laboratory in Newark, Del., is also collaborating with an ARS colleague to
develop lures containing the tree odor attractants that are most compelling to
the beetle. Special blends of these attractants can then be deployed with traps
inside potentially infested areas.
These recent findings stem from Smith's research to discover how
the insects orient to their host trees. The beetle locates a host tree,
suitable for feeding and egg-laying by relying on vision and odors, which are
sensed via its eyes and antennae, respectively.
Read more about the research in this month's issue of
Agricultural Research magazine.
ARS is the USDA's chief
scientific research agency. |