Author: Raul Villanueva
Planning Unit: Entomology
Major Program: Commercial Horticulture - Landscape Ecosystems
Outcome: Intermediate Outcome
Ambrosia beetles are destructive pests of a large number of woody plants including ornamentals and fruit trees. Nursery crop growers, and garden center and home owners endure the economic losses due to the attack of very aggressive invasive ambrosia beetle species that cause poor plant growth and death. We identified the composition of ambrosia beetle species in Western Kentucky. Seven invasive species were found associated with nursery crops and fruit orchards. We now know abundance and the seasonal flight of the most predominant invasive species. This information has been published on Kentucky Pest News, UK Nursery Crop ListServ, and Nursery and Landscape Insider and delivered through several conferences and field days. This study was presented in the Kentucky Nursery and Landscape Association (KNLA) Summer Outing (September 2016) in Frankfort, KNLA'S Spring Training and Showcase (January 2017) in Louisville, the North Central Conference of the Entomology Society of America in Indianapolis (June 2017). A video is available at http://www2.ca.uky.edu/anr/Lync%20Training.htm. This is a multidisciplinary work involving Entomology (Villanueva, Bessin and Obrycki) and Horticulture (Dunwell and Viloria) as well as research, extension and outreach. Base on the data collected on 2016 by Dr. Viloria, our group was awarded a competitive grant from the KDA for $29,954 for 1 year. In addition, this project will also link with our neighboring state of Ohio where Dr. Christopher Ranger (USDA-ARS Wooster, OH) is expected to collaborate with us. In the near future studies will deal with ambrosia beetle management and control.