EFFECT OF HABITAT FACTORS AND HOST PLANT ON NATURAL ENEMIES OF EMERALD ASH BORER (AGRILUS PLANIPENNIS) AND IMPLICATIONS FOR BIOLOGICAL CONTROL

Abstract

In an effort to manage the invasive wood-boring buprestid, emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), biological control efforts have resulted in the release of four classical biological control agents. Emerald ash borer is known to infest ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) in both urban and natural habitats and, recently emerald ash borer has expanded its host range to include white fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus). While these parasitoids have been studied in forested habitats, little is known about their efficacy in urban landscapes and in white fringetree. Here, I evaluated the efficacy of Tetrastichus planipennisi an introduced, larval endoparasitoid, at parasitizing emerald ash borer in white fringetree. Additionally, I released T. planipennisi at sites along an urbanization gradient in Maryland and northern Virginia and evaluated habitat factors for their effect on emerald ash borer and its natural enemies. From my results, implications for biological control and management of emerald ash borer are discussed.