Official Pest Reports
Official Pest Reports are provided by National Plant Protection Organizations within the NAPPO region. These Pest Reports are intended to
comply with the International Plant Protection Convention's Standard on Pest Reporting, endorsed
by the Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures in March 2002.
Detection of Sirex noctilio Fabricius (Sirex woodwasp) in five additional New York Counties – United States
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Date posted: 12/14/2006 |
Contact: Not available |
From late August - October 2006, Cornell University positively identified Sirex noctilio from five new counties in New York: Cattaraugus County (August 23), Broome County (September 8), Hamilton (October 16), Steuben (September 13), and St. Lawrence (September 22). In each county, a single female woodwasp was collected from traps set and monitored by APHIS-PPQ and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and Environmental Conservation. Sixty S. noctilio (57 females and 3 males) from 20 counties have been confirmed this season bringing the total number of infested counties in New York to 25.
In other countries, where S. noctilio has been inadvertently introduced, biological control programs have been developed for this wood boring pest of Pinus sp. In support of a proposed biological control program, a Biological Assessment for New York State was prepared by APHIS, Program Planning and Development, Environmental Services. A letter of concurrence from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service was received on August 22, 2006. Environmental Services issued a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) on August 29, 2006. Internal review of the draft EA was completed on September 6, 2006, and a revised version is in preparation. On October 3, 2006, scientists from the APHIS-PPQ Center for Plant Health Science and Technology submitted a work plan to Federal and New York State Sirex Program Managers for a pilot biological control program for New York. A controlled release of the Sirex biological control nematode (Beddingia siricidicola) took place the week of November 6, 2006, in the core Sirex-infested area of New York. Since all inoculated material will be removed and/or destroyed before the Sirex-emergence period, the nematode will not be able to disperse or enter the environment. This proposed action falls within the class of actions which are subject to categorical exclusion under APHIS’ National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Procedures.
A draft Federal Domestic Quarantine Order for S. noctilio has been written and is undergoing revision and review by APHIS-PPQ. Further actions beyond detection and delimiting surveys in the United States are under consideration.
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