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<div> <p>Understanding the dispersal ability of invasive insects provides useful insights for developing effective management strategies. Historically, methods for marking insects for dispersal studies have been expensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive, especially for woodboring beetles. In addition, capturing or rearing insects requires human handling, which can alter behavior. Immunomarking is a well-established technique for studying the dispersal of insects, however, it has not been broadly applied to woodborers. This study evaluates the potential for using immunoproteins applied directly to woodborer-infested trees to mark emerging beetles. <a>Specifically, in the first experiment I sprayed varying concentrations of ovalbumin (egg white) solution directly onto logs infested with emerald ash borer (EAB, <i>Agrilus planipennis </i>Fairmaire) (Buprestidae: Agrilini) and ELISA was used to detect the presence of protein on emerged beetles. To test the persistence of the mark, I applied varying concentrations of albumin to freeze-killed beetles, mounted them on pins, and placed them in an exposed location outdoors. Adult EAB self-marked as they emerged from protein-treated trees, with higher protein concentrations persisting for longer on the cuticle when exposed to sun and rain. </a>This technique offers a convenient, inexpensive and durable means of marking woodborers and circumvents the need for human handling, allowing for more natural behavior and more realistic estimates of dispersal. Protein self-marking may find application in studies of woodborer dispersal within natural forest environments.<a></a></p> </div> <br>

Emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), is an aggressive invader from Asia that has killed millions of trees in North America. Recently EAB has been documented developing in a novel host, white fringetree, Chionanthus virginicus. I evaluated larval performance in two common ash species and white fringetree by infesting excised bolts with emerald ash borer eggs. In addition I evaluated several plant characteristics to determine which most influence larval development. I also conducted choice and no choice assays using the classical biological control agent, Tetrastichus planipennisi (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), to assess its ability to locate larval EAB in the different host plants. I found significantly lower survival rates of EAB larvae in white fringetree compared to white ash, F. americana. Larval phloem consumption and larval growth were lower in fringetree than in both ash tested. In choice and no choice assays T. planipennisi failed to parasitize larvae in fringetree. Failure of T. planipennisi to parasitize larvae within fringetree has implications for the efficacy of this classical biological control agent. Coupled with the use of white fringetree as a reservoir host, the enemy free space provided to EAB through use of this alternate host may have repercussions for EAB invasion dynamics.

The emerald ash borer (EAB, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is a non-native wood boring beetle that is causing extensive ash (Fraxinus spp.) mortality in eastern North America, affecting both urban and wildland forests and drastically altering forest structure and composition. As EAB-induced ash mortality progresses, native arthropod associates of ash forests are impacted by the effects of rapid and broad scale tree mortality. These include loss of food source, increased canopy gap formation, alterations in litter inputs causing shifting temperature and moisture regimes on the forest floor, and significant accumulation of coarse woody debris. I assessed the sub-canopy arthropod community in five forests, all in different stages of the invasion process, from introduction through impact. Additionally, I assessed the ground level arthropod community in a post EAB-invaded forest with 100% mature ash mortality. Arthropod communities were assessed at the ordinal level, and with a focus on coleopterans, they were further classified to families and trophic guilds to analyze abundance, richness, and diversity. Due to their overwhelming abundance, I identified scolytines collected in the post EAB-invaded forest to species to see if the EAB-invasion was part of a greater invasional meltdown. My results indicate that the EAB-invasion in North America is affecting the native coleopteran communities associated with these forests.

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