Country: United States

Title: Sirex noctilio Fabricius (Sirex woodwasp) in Sanilac County, Michigan - United States

Contact:
Lynn Evans-Goldner, USDA's Plant Protection and Quarantine's <em>Sirex noctilio</em> National Program Coordinator, (301) 734-7228

Report:

On February 19, 2008, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the detection of two female Sirex noctilio in Sanilac County, Michigan. One female specimen was collected on July 8, 2007, from a Lindgren trap baited with the standard alpha and beta pinene lure. The other female woodwasp was collected on July 25, 2007, from a nearby un-baited intercept trap hung on a trap tree. Both traps were located on private property.

During the 2007 survey season, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) cooperated with Michigan Technological University (MTU) to establish Sirex trap tree sites in 42 counties (81 total sites) in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and 3 counties (6 total sites) in Upper Michigan. The USFS and MTU also cooperated to deploy baited Lindgren traps at 24 sites in the remaining counties of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Collections from the traps were sent to Michigan State University for preliminary identification. These two positive traps were a part of that survey effort. Additionally, 173 additional baited traps were placed in 13 Lower Peninsula counties as part of a cooperative survey effort involving APHIS’ Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) program.

 The Sirex survey area in Michigan is part of a multi-state detection and delimiting survey that has been ongoing for several years in high- risk areas throughout the United States. To date, cooperative State and Federal survey efforts have detected S. noctilio in 6 Pennsylvania Counties, 2 Michigan counties (including Sanilac), 29 New York counties, and 1 Vermont County.

Sirex noctilio is an exotic species of wood-boring wasp capable of causing significant mortality in healthy species of pine trees. In other countries affected by S. noctilio, biological and cultural control programs have been developed to mitigate the impact of this forest pest. PPQ’s Center for Plant Health, Science, and Technology is presently assessing the feasibility of implementing a biological control program for S. noctilio in the United States. APHIS is currently considering its regulatory options to address S. noctilio.

Under IPPC standards, Sirex noctilio is now considered to be a pest that is present: only in some areas (localized in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont) in the United States.

 

Posted Date: March 5, 2008, 9 a.m.