The invasive Emerald Ash Borer beetle has been found in more Pennsylvania counties. To see a report about the new findings, check out DCNR’s Resource newsletter:
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/news/resource/res2010/10-0707-eab.aspx
Emerald Ash Borer Discovered in More PA Counties
July 7th, 2010Forest Tent Caterpillar Defoliating Areas in Northcentral PA
May 29th, 2010WITF reports that forest tent caterpillars are a major problem in some areas of northcentral PA this spring.
http://www.witf.org/news/regional-and-state/3905-tent-caterpillars-emerge-in-parts-of-pa
2010 Collecting Trip Announced
May 24th, 2010The 2010 Entomological Society of Pennsylvania (ESP) will be holding its annual insect collecting trip from 18-20 June at Greenwood Furnace State Park in Huntington, PA. Four campsites have been reserved on the lower road, each of which can accommodate five people. A pavilion has also been secured for the Saturday lunch that will consist of picnic foods such as hot dogs, hamburgers, and various side dishes. Collection activities are generally on your own or with groups that will be organized on site. Night-time collecting will also be available but maybe limited to specific areas that are currently to be determined.
For individuals to collect, permits will be required so anyone wanting to collect will need one. If you do not have one a temporary three-day permit can be obtained by contacting Andrew St. John at astjohn@state.pa.us. Additionally, those who want to capture/collect aquatic insects will require a PA fishing license which can be purchased at various stores throughout the state. Permits and fishing licenses must be carried at all times. Directions and more information about the site can be found at http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/greenwoodfurnace.aspx
For more information contact:
Mark Swartz, Monitoring Biologist
Ft. Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center
Annville, PA 17003
Phone #: 717-861-2949
Email: c-mswartz@state.pa.us
Emerald Ash Borer Found in Bedford County – Quarantine Expanded
May 22nd, 2010http://www.paenvironmentdigest.com/newsletter/default.asp?NewsletterArticleID=15810
The Department of Agriculture announced this week Emerald Ash Borer beetles have been found near Graceville, Bedford, County, bringing to 12 the number of Pennsylvania counties where the ash tree-destroying pest has been identified.
In response to this latest discovery, a state-imposed quarantine is being expanded to include Bedford County. Residents and visitors to use only locally harvested firewood, burn all of the firewood on-site, and not move it to new locations.
“Our survey crews are acting swiftly to assess the extent of infestation in Bedford County and surrounding areas,” said Secretary of Agriculture Russell C. Redding. “As we enter the summer traveling and camping season, the department urges all Pennsylvanians to heed the imposed hardwood firewood quarantine – not just in the specified areas, but throughout the state to prevent any further spread of the beetle.”
The Bedford County infestation was discovered at the intersection of Tannery Road and Route 30 near Graceville, which is less than one mile east of Breezewood and less than one mile from the Fulton County line, after Department of Conservation and Natural Resources staff noticed extensive tree damage due to woodpecker. Such damage often indicates that trees may be infected as the birds injure the trees while trying to eat the beetle larvae.
State and federal Emerald Ash Borer quarantines restrict the movement from the quarantine area of ash nursery stock, green lumber and any other ash material, including logs, stumps, roots and branches, and all wood chips.
Due to the difficulty in distinguishing between species of hardwood firewood, all hardwood firewood and wood chips—including ash, oak, maple and hickory—are considered quarantined.
The invasive beetle was first detected in Pennsylvania in the summer of 2007 in Butler County, and subsequently was found in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Indiana, Juniata, Lawrence, Mercer, Mifflin, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
Emerald Ash Borer is a wood-boring beetle native to China and eastern Asia. The pest likely arrived in North America in wooden shipping crates. It was first detected in July 2002 in southeastern Michigan and neighboring Windsor, Ontario, Canada. In addition to Pennsylvania, the beetle is attacking ash trees in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin, and is responsible for the death and decline of more than 40 million trees.
Typically, the beetles will kill an ash tree within three years of the initial infestation. Adults are dark green, one-half inch in length and one-eighth inch wide, and fly only from early May until September. Larvae spend the rest of the year beneath the bark of ash trees. When they emerge as adults, they leave D-shaped holes in the bark about one-eighth inch wide.
There is no known practical control for this wood-boring pest other than destroying infested trees.
People who suspect they have seen Emerald Ash Borer should call the department’s toll-free pest hotline at 1-866-253-7189. For more information about the quarantine, contact Walt Blosser at 717-772-5205, and for more information about Emerald Ash Borer, contact Sven-Erik Spichiger at 717-772-5229.
The Agriculture Department Emerald Ash Borer survey crews will begin hanging nearly 6,000 purple panel traps from ash trees Friday, May 21, in 21 counties. The traps are designed to attract flying adult beetles to help detect further spread. Crews will remove the traps by the end of August.
The national survey is being conducted in cooperation with U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the U.S. Forest Service and DCNR’s Bureau of Forestry.
Information is also available at the Emerald Ash Borer webpage.
Summer Employment Opportunity With the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
February 26th, 2010Fifty (52) federally funded seasonal employment positions are being made available by the Plant Protection Division of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry.
These non-Civil Service positions in Entomology will focus on insect surveillance to detect invasive species such as the Emerald Ash Borer, Sirex Woodwasp, and Asian Longhorned beetle, perform apiary inspection, and also laboratory work.
Forty (43) Forest Insect Pest Aide 1 (FIPA1) positions are being hired to form two-person crews for the following 21 counties: Cambria, Warren , Crawford, Erie, McKean, Potter, Elk, Cameron, Tioga, Bradford, Susquehanna, Clinton, Union, Snyder, Perry, Bedford, Somerset, Huntington, Blair, Clearfield and Centre. Two single-person crews will be hired to survey multiple counties, and one additional FIPA1 will be hired to work from Harrisburg.
General familiarity with the counties in which survey work will take place will be helpful but is not required. Employed crews will work independently, and will be headquartered at their place of residence. Three (3) Forest Insect Pest Aide 2 (FIPA2) positions will be hired to oversee field crews. Three (3) apiary Inspectors will be hired for apiary inspection and three (3) Laboratory Assistants positions, will be hired to process samples and data at the PDA Entomology Laboratory in Harrisburg. Insect identification experience is preferred for the laboratory assistant positions, but not required.
Job Duties:
The work will involve visual survey of trees, placement and monitoring of insect traps, digital collection of data, and investigation of private landowner pest reports. A vehicle will be provided for each crew to carry out the duties of this position. Coursework or a degree in entomology, forestry, or the biological sciences is preferred, but is not essential. Applicants should be good drivers, and have a valid driver’s license. Specific training will be provided upon beginning employment, and the employee will receive guidance in his/her work for the duration of the employment period. Applicants must be available to work May 17 through the end of August, 2010. The two single-person crew members must be available for work through November.
Apiary inspectors will be asked to inspect apiaries for honey bee diseases and pests and must be able to tolerate bee stings. Former experience working with honey bees is strongly preferred for the apiary inspector positions.
Salary and Work Schedule:
Pay rate for FIPA1 and laboratory assistants positions in 2010 is $11.66/hour, and for FIPA2, $13.14/hour. The pay rate for apiary Inspectors will be $14.81/hour. Employees are expected to work a full time, 37.5 hours per week, 8 am – 4 pm, Monday – Friday schedule for the duration of their employment period. Salary is not negotiable.
How to Apply:
To apply, download the Personal Data Sheet at: http://www.hrm.state.pa.us/pds
Download the Personal Data Sheet (PDS) to submit along with a typed one-page resume, and a letter indicating position preference (FIPA1, FIPA2, Apiary Inspector or Laboratory Assistant).
On the PDS, list your county of residence (for the employment period) and in the spaces
designated, which counties you will accept work in (whichever county or counties you are applying for). Applications must be received no later than March 31, 2010, after which 11 applicants will be contacted to arrange interviews. Send the Personal Data Sheet, resume, and cover letter to Mr. Ambe at the address below.
Interviews of applicants will be conducted by telephone. For more information, or to receive a copy of the Personal Data Sheet through the mail, please contact:
Shu Ambe, Entomology Survey Coordinator
PA Dept. of Agriculture
2301 North Cameron Street
Harrisburg, PA 17110-9408
sambe@state.pa.us
THE PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE IS AN EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
Janaury 2010 Executive Committee Meeting Update
January 9th, 2010Hi All:
Having heard from a few of you (Executive Committee) and hearing no real problems with the week of January 25, I am scheduling the first ESP Executive Committee meeting for 2010 on Wednesday, January 27. The meeting will be held in Room 202 of the Agriculture Building at 2301 N. Cameron St. in Harrisburg (same building as last year). I will inform the front desk, so just stop there to pick up a visitor’s badge, as necessary.
I still need agenda items, so please continue to send them in. I will expect the standard committee reports and we will address old business – I will send out a preliminary draft of the agenda next week, so respond to that with any additions, subtractions, etc.
See you all there!
The Pres
Leo Donovall | Entomologist
Bureau of Plant Industry
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
2301 North Cameron Street | Harrisburg, PA 17110
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
2301 North Cameron Street | Harrisburg, PA 17110
“The Mosquitoes of Pennsylvania” book now available
December 1st, 2009Below is a link to Pennsylvania Vector Control Association’s Technical Bulletin 2009-001, “The Mosquitoes of Pennsylvania, Identification of Adult Females and Fourth Instar Larvae, Geographical Distribution, Biology and Public Health Importance“.
This publication was originally released in November, 2009. Primary authors for the book are Richard F. Darsie, Jr. (Grove City College) and Michael Hutchinson (PA Dept. of Environmental Protection, Division of Vector Management).
This book is currently available as a free download in Adobe PDF format. The complete book is about 32MB in size. Please click on the cover image photo to download the full book file.
Toxorhynchites rutilus septentrionalis on flowerhttp://www.pavectorcontrol.org/docs/TB2009-001/Mosquitoes%20of%20PA%20-%20Complete.pdf
Individual species account pages may be accessed by going to this directory and clicking on the species of interest.
http://www.pavectorcontrol.org/docs/TB2009-001/
Citation:
Darsie RF, Hutchinson ML. 2009. The Mosquitoes of Pennsylvania. Technical Bulletin #2009-001 of the Pennsylvania Vector Control Association. 201pp.
York 4-H Entomology Club Looking For Help
November 20th, 2009The York County 4-H Entomology Club is looking for people interested in speaking about or presenting entomolgy related programs to the members of this organization. Below is a message from the group’s advisor:
As a lead Advisor for the York Co. 4-H Entomology Club, I have been asked by the youth members to find speakers and programs for our monthly meetings. What the kids are asking for is Ento-related programs that will highlite our meeting each month (every 3rd Wed evening of each month).
These kids are hungry for more than just a 4-H Entomology Project. Lab or field work, curation, taxonomy, mounting/preservation, aquatics, collecting or any research field trips you’ve been on, whatever ? If you work in a job field that would interest Ento kids, this would be a good time to pitch for a potential field trip from the club (summer or winter) to your job location. The kids would be happy to assist you with aspects of the work, thus learn more about possible careers in Entomology related fields. If you feel the kids would enjoy hearing about it, please consider a visit to one of our meetings in 2010.
Last year, Faith Kuehn, Mike Turell and Mike Lamprinos took time to visit with the Club and the group enjoyed a nice variety of Entomology related topics. The folks who presented also enjoyed the experience to educate and enrich the minds of the kids and were quite impressed with the knowledge and enthusiasm. Spec’s:
45 min’s to 1-hr max.
low-tech for all ages (respectively).
show-n-tell, hands-on, slide show, etc.
Note: This is a Volunteer gig – fyi.
Jan, Feb, March, April and May are currently open for programs.
If you would like to discuss more details about scheduling a program, please contact me asap and I’ll work with you to keep these kids happy. Thanks much for your time !
Ryan Bridge | 717-266-6660 | rb_bugman (at) comcast.net
Next Executive Committee Meeting
November 5th, 2009The next ESP executive committee meeting will be held in early 2010. Time, date, and location information will be posted on the main page as soon as they are decided. While the executive committee meetings are a work session for the committee, any ESP members are welcome to attend, as well.
2009 Annual Meeting a Success
November 5th, 2009The 2009 annual meeting of the Entomological Society of PA was held at the Juniata College Raystown Field Station in Huntingdon County, PA on October 28-29, 2009. The meeting was a success. A summary of the meeting will be provided in the next edition of the newsletter.