Fraxinus americana, the white ash or American ash, is a species of ash tree native to eastern and central North America.
Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also involves an active human management role. It can be an important component of integrated pest management (IPM) programs.
The emerald ash borer, also known by the acronym EAB, is a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to north-eastern Asia that feeds on ash species. Females lay eggs in bark crevices on ash trees, and larvae feed underneath the bark of ash trees to emerge as adults in one to two years. In its native range, it is typically found at low densities and does not cause significant damage to trees native to the area. Outside its native range, it is an invasive species and is highly destructive to ash trees native to Europe and North America. Before it was found in North America, very little was known about emerald ash borer in its native range; this has resulted in much of the research on its biology being focused in North America. Local governments in North America are attempting to control it by monitoring its spread, diversifying tree species, and through the use of insecticides and biological control.
Fraxinus pennsylvanica, the green ash or red ash, is a species of ash native to eastern and central North America, from Nova Scotia west to southeastern Alberta and eastern Colorado, south to northern Florida, and southwest to Oklahoma and eastern Texas. It has spread and become naturalized in much of the western United States and also in Europe from Spain to Russia.
The emerald cockroach wasp or jewel wasp is a solitary wasp of the family Ampulicidae. It is known for its unusual reproductive behavior, which involves stinging a cockroach and using it as a host for its larvae. It thus belongs to the entomophagous parasites.
Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later causing the death of these hosts. Different species specialise in hosts from different insect orders, most often Lepidoptera, though some select beetles, flies, or bugs; the spider wasps (Pompilidae) exclusively attack spiders.
Glyptapanteles is a genus of endoparasitoid wasps found in Central and North America and New Zealand. The larvae of the members of Glyptapanteles sp. are distinguished by their ability to manipulate their hosts into serving as bodyguards.
The Doryctinae or doryctine wasps are a large subfamily of braconid parasitic wasps (Braconidae). Numerous genera and species formerly unknown to science are being described every year. This subfamily is presumably part of a clade containing otherwise any or all of the Alysiinae, Braconinae, Gnamptodontinae, Opiinae and Ypsistocerinae, and might be most closely related to the last one of these. Whether the Rogadinae are also part of this group is not known.
Tetrastichus is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae.
Cerceris fumipennis, the only species of buprestid-hunting Crabronidae occurring in eastern North America, is found throughout the continental United States east of the Rockies: from Texas and Florida north to Maine, Wyoming, and into Canada. The wasps most often nest in open areas of hard-packed sandy soil surrounded by woody habitat suitable for their buprestid beetle prey.
Oobius agrili is a parasitic non-stinging wasp of family Encyrtidae which is native to North Asia. It is a parasitoid of the emerald ash borer, an invasive species which has destroyed tens of millions of ash trees in its introduced range in North America. As part of the campaign against the emerald ash borer (EAB), American scientists in conjunction with the Chinese Academy of Forestry searched since 2003 for its natural enemies in the wild leading to the discovery of several parasitoid wasps, including Oobius agrili, which is a solitary egg parasitoid of EAB found on ash trees in Jilin province in 2004; it has been recorded to kill up to 60 percent of EAB eggs.
Spathius agrili is a parasitic non-stinging wasp of family Braconidae which is native to North Asia. It is a parasitoid of the emerald ash borer, an invasive species which has destroyed tens of millions of ash trees in its introduced range in North America. As part of the campaign against the emerald ash borer (EAB), American scientists in conjunction with the Chinese Academy of Forestry began searching in 2003 for its natural enemies in the wild, leading to the discovery of several parasitoid wasp species, including Spathius agrili. S. agrili was discovered in Tianjin, China where it is a prevalent parasitoid of EAB larvae in stands of an introduced ash species, and an endemic ash species. S. agrili has been recorded to attack and kill up to 90 percent of EAB larvae.
Agrilus auroguttatus is a species of jewel beetle in the United States, known by the common name goldspotted oak borer. It is a woodboring beetle best known for destroying stands of oak trees in the Cleveland National Forest in San Diego County, California, in the United States. It was originally considered a subspecies of the Central American species Agrilus coxalis, and much of the literature refers to it by this name, but now it is regarded as a separate species, known only from Arizona and California.
Cotesia urabae is a small wasp, having a black body with yellow-brown legs, characterized by a solitary larval endoparasitoid stage. It is part of a large complex of 11 primary parasitoids of Uraba lugens Walker, many of which are polyphagous. The female inserts its ovipositor into the a U. lugens larva, depositing its eggs there, and it has been found that one female may carry up to 400 eggs. While C. urabae females are able to attack the same larva several times; only one single parasitoid completes its development in each larva.
Agrilus biguttatus is a species of beetle in the family Buprestidae, the jewel beetles. Common names include oak splendour beetle, oak buprestid beetle, and two-spotted oak borer. It is native to Europe, North Africa, and Siberia. This beetle is known as a pest that causes damage to oak trees and is a factor in oak decline.
Spathius galinae is a parasitoid of emerald ash borer. The known range of S. galinae extends from the Russian Far East to South Korea. It is currently approved for release in some areas of North America as part of a biological control program against emerald ash borer.
Tetrastichinae is a subfamily of the chalcid wasp family Eulophidae. It is one of the largest subfamilies of the Eulophidae containing over 100 genera and nearly 3,000 species. The species of the family Tetrastichinae are found in almost any type of terrestrial habitat and have a worldwide distribution, except Antarctica. They show a varied biology and hosts for Tetrastichinae wasps have been identified from over 100 different insect families, across 10 different orders and they have also been recorded as being parasitoids on nematodes, mites and spiders' eggs. Some species are even phytophagous, while others are inquilines and yet others are gall formers.
Trichogramma japonicum is a minute wasp parasitoid from the Trichogrammatidae family in the order Hymenoptera. T. japonicum parasitizes the eggs of many pest species, especially Lepidoptera found in many monocultures. They are entomophagous parasitoids that deposit their eggs inside the host species' egg, consuming the host egg material and emerging from the egg once development is complete. T. japonicum can be found naturally in rice ecosystems, but are dispersed commercially to many monocultures as a biological control. The mitochondrial genomes of T. japonicum are significantly rearranged when comparing it to related insects.
Tetrastichus coeruleus is a gregarious koinobiont wasp which can be used as a biological control agent for the common asparagus beetle.
Lysiphlebus testaceipes is a species of small braconid parasitoid wasp in the subfamily Aphidiinae. L. testaceipes can utilize numerous species of aphids as hosts and has often been used as a biological control agent against aphid pests. It is considered an invasive species in several European countries.
