With global trade and travel, organisms are moved around easily and abruptly, causing biological invasions. What’s our best hope to combat these rapidly spreading pests? Sometimes, it’s to do the exact same thing, to start moving around organisms — on purpose — to attack unwanted pests.

This is called ‘biological control.’ It is one of the most cost-efficient and environmentally acceptable long-term approaches for managing invasive species. And, it’s been a crucial component to managing the damage caused by the most destructive forest insect in U.S. history — the emerald ash borer beetle.

Related Research:

• Emerald Ash Borer Biocontrol in Ash Saplings: The Potential for Early Stage Recovery of North American Ash Trees (2017)
• Progress and Challenges of Protecting North American Ash Trees from the Emerald Ash Borer Using Biological Control (2018)
• Progress in the Classical Biological Control of Agrilus Planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) in North America (2015)
• Buying Time: Preliminary Assessment of Biocontrol in the Recovery of Native Forest Vegetation in the Aftermath of the Invasive Emerald Ash Borer (2017)
• The Role of Biocontrol of Emerald Ash Borer in Protecting Ash Regeneration After Invasion (2017)
• EAB County Detections

Scientists:

• Leah Bauer, Research Entomologist, Northern Research Station, Lansing, Michigan (retired)
• Roy Von Driesche, Entomologist / Conservation Biologist, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts (retired)
• Jian Duan, Research Entomologist, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Newark, Delaware

Produced by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station.

Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/multimedia/podcasts/forestcast-season-1-balance-and-barrier-episode-2-wasps-vs-emerald

Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at: jonathan.yales@usda.gov