Exotic Species Head North

Invasive Sirex wood wasp attack Pines

Story Rian Hunt
Photos Courtesy of The United States Department of Agriculture

Exotic species called Sirex wood wasps, Sirex noctilio, have invaded New York State and have threatened the forest industry.

Native to Europe, the Sirex wood wasp has created major problems for three species of pine. The wasp has damaged red pines, white pines and scotch pines. According to Ethan Angell from the Department of agriculture and Markets (DAM), Sirex wood wasp attack suppressed stressed and injured trees.

"The wasp weakens and kills the pine trees"

"The female wasp carries the fungus and lays the eggs in the trees, making the tree weak," said Angell.

The wasp was first found in New York in Oswego County in 2004. Since 2005 most of the state has been surveyed to see how far it spread. The results show that no infestation has taken place in Clinton, Franklin, or Essex counties. However, the wood wasp has been detected in 22 other New York counties, with the closest being the county of Saint Lawrence.

"The wasp weakens and kills the pine trees by drilling their ovipositors, [the egg laying method, that contains the fungus], into the outer sapwood to inject a symbiotic fungus," said Bob Mugari from DAM. Females can lay up to 450 eggs, depending on their size.

"These wasps are responsible for eighty percent of the tree mortality in the southern hemispheres and we don't want that to happen to New York, or any part of the world," said Richard Reardon from the USDA Forest Service.

The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), created a program to help limit the spread of the wasp. A Sirex management team was created in 2005 and the team is continuing their efforts to expand throughout New York State.

So far, the Sirex wood wasp has been managed by using a biological control agent. The agent is a parasite nematode called Deledenus siricidicola. Because the female wasp carries the fungus that deposits the larva into the tree the control agent sterilizes the adult females.

These fungus carrying insects will destroy the many pine trees in New York if they continue to spread. The Sirex Management Team is still looking for new infestations of the Sirex wood wasp and need as much information about the new infestation as possible.

Do you have pine trees on your property?

Wood Wasp

Pine products that could host the Sirex wood wasp:

•  Logs

•  Lumber greater than 1-inch thick

•  Poles and post

•  Log furniture

•  Pallets and other solid wood packaging

•  Stumps

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends the following methods to treat forest products susceptible to the wasp:

•  Heat in dry kiln or heat chamber to 132.8 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes

•  Combination of borate salt and kiln dry reduce moisture to 18 percent

•  Chip the wood size less than 1 inch thick