Emerald Ash Borer
From LIVESCIENCE.com by Rebecca Kessler 9/5/2010
Every year, exotic insects like the Asian longhorn beetle and the emerald ash borer, aka the Green Menace, kill millions of trees across the United States. And every year inspectors intercept a few new would-be invaders at the nation’s ports of entry — but they can’t stop every single one. Now researchers are trying to get a step ahead of the insect influx.
About two exotic, forest-dwelling insect species take hold in the United States annually, according to a new paper published online Oct. 1 and to set appear in a forthcoming print issue of the journal Biological Invasions.
To calculate that number, a team of researchers including Frank Koch of North Carolina State University’s College of Natural Resources and four co-authors developed a computer model that incorporated historical data on foreign trade, insect invasions and interceptions at U.S. ports.
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