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Nebraska

Department of

Agriculture

Julie Van Meter

Animal & Plant Health Protection

Entomology Program

Three Main Areas:

1. Nursery Certification Program

2. Export Certification Program

3. Survey & Detection Program

Entomology Program *Responsible for regulatory activities

NDA is charged with administering and enforcing

the standards and restrictions spelled out in the

Plant Protection and Pest Act.

Nursery Certification

Nebraska law requires all persons that distribute perennial

or woody plant material to be licensed with the Nebraska

Department of Agriculture

In 2014, NDA licensed

approximately 1250 Nursery

Stock Distributors in

Nebraska.

Additionally, about 300

licensees requested

certification of Nebraska

Grown Nursery Stock.

Export Certification

Many foreign countries and other state have specific pest

freedom requirements that must be met so plants and plant

products are able to enter those countries or states.

NDA conducts inspections in order to determine if the

products meet the entry requirements set by the receiving

entity.

If requirements can be met, NDA will

issue the appropriate export certificate.

In 2014, NDA conducted roughly 600

phytosanitary inspections and issued over

4,700 export certificates.

Several states have enacted state

exterior quarantines regulating

European Corn Borer. NDA

issued ECB licenses to 134

firms, and reviewed over 4,000

certificates for loads of corn

shipped to states with ECB

quarantines.

Export Certification

NDA also conducts Growing Season inspections of seed

fields in the state, to determine presence or absence of

various diseases and weeds.

Survey & Detection

Surveys for exotic and invasive plant pests are conducted by

NDA for several reasons:

• Determine presence or absence of a pest

• Delimit a known infested area

• Determine the feasibility of an eradication effort

• Maintain pest free status

• Facilitate trade

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Plant Pest Surveys in 2014

•Brown Marmorated

Stink Bug

•Cereal Leaf Beetle

•Emerald Ash Borer

•Gypsy Moth

•Japanese Beetle

•Karnal Bunt

•Khapra Beetle

•Terresterial Mollusks

•Pine Pests

•Potato Cyst & Soil Nematodes

•Thousand Cankers Disease of

Walnut

Inspections of Regulated Articles

Conduct inspections of various regulated

articles to confirm compliance with various

state and federal quarantines

• Christmas trees

• Firewood

• Seed potatoes

• Nursery stock

Julie Van Meter

Program Manager, State Entomologist

Libby Smith

Entomology Inspector

Lincoln, Southeast & South Central Nebraska

Entomology Program Staff:

Kathleen Pratt

Entomology Inspector

Omaha, Northeast & North Central Nebraska

Open

Entomology Inspector

Western 2/3 of Nebraska

Open

State Survey Coordinator

Jessica Schueth

Export Certification Coordinator •Native to Asia.

•First discovered in Detroit,

MI in June 2002.

•Likely introduced to the

US on solid wood packing

material 20+ years ago

•Now found in 25 states and 2

Canadian provinces.

•Closest infestations to Nebraska are

in the Kansas City, KS/MO and

Boulder, CO metro areas.

•EAB has resulted in the loss of

millions of ash trees in infested

areas

•Ash firewood •Ash nursery stock

•Ash logs/lumber

•Agrilus planipennis

•Adults are approximately

¼” to ½” in length

•Small, shiny metallic-green beetle

•Larvae grow to about 1” in length

•Adults emerge May through early August

•EAB generally has a one year life-cycle

•All species of ash (Fraxinus spp.) are susceptible to EAB

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•D-shaped exit holes

•Serpentine galleries

under bark

•Small, vertical splits in the bark

•Thinning & die-back

of canopy

•Epicormic shoots sprout from main trunk

•Woodpecker damage

CHEMICAL—Preventative treatments

may protect trees

Treatments are only recommended if

within 15 miles of a known infestation

ERADICATION—Trees found to be

infested are removed

Chemicals include:

Imidacloprid & Emamectin benzoate

QUARANTINES—State & Federal

quarantines are put in place to prevent

movement of regulated articles

• TCD is a pest complex causing

decline & death in black walnut.

• Caused by a fungal pathogen carried on the walnut twig beetle.

• Currently found in all

states west of Nebraska,

from Colorado to California

plus Indiana, Maryland,

North Carolina, Ohio,

Pennsylvania, Tennessee

and Virginia.

• The walnut twig beetles are

exceptionally small. Over

23,000 beetles are in this 2” vial!

• Adult beetles may be present from

late winter to late fall.

• Symptoms of TCD include flagging,

yellowing & thinning of canopy, death of

branches, wilting foliage, & death of tree.

• The beetle attacks in large numbers.

The fungus infects the beetle galleries,

causing the cankers.

•No known cure.

•No known preventative treatment.

•Mitigation treatments are being developed.

•Approximately 12 states, including Nebraska, have

established state exterior quarantines.

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• Originally from Europe

• Introduced to the US in the 1860’s

• Currently infests the northeastern US,

stretching west to Wisconsin, and south to Virginia

GM 1900 GM 1955

GM 1980 GM 2005

• Hitchhikes on nursery stock, vehicles

& outdoor household articles

• Lymantria dispar

• Adult females are white and flightless

• Adult males are brown and have

feathery antennae

• Larvae may reach 3” in length, and have 5 pairs of blue dots &

6 pairs of red dots on their back.

male

female

• Adults generally emerge after a 10 to 14 days, mate and lay eggs

• Eggs hatch in April or May, as trees

begin to produce leaves

• Gypsy Moth overwinter as eggs

• Larvae feed on foliage until they pupate, starting in late June

•Aerial applications of the bacteria BT,

Bacillus thuringiensis

•Aerial applications of Gypsy Moth nucleopolyhedrosis virus (nvp)

•Mass trapping with pheromone-baited traps

•Release of adult sterile male moths

•Mating disruption with Gypsy Moth pheromone disparlure

•More traditional, chemical

treatments may also be used

•Destruction of egg masses

• BMSB is an exotic plant pest

first discovered in the U.S. in

2001, in Pennsylvania

• Now found in Northeast and

Mid-Atlantic states, and Oregon.

• Moving into the Midwest and Plains states.

• BMSB hitchhikes to

uninfested locations in

many ways, from

nursery stock and plant

products, to vehicles,

and in cargo.

• BMSB has one life cycle a year in

northern regions; up to five in southern.

• It overwinters as an adults, emerging in the spring to lay eggs.

• Nymphs hatch from eggs within one week, and are orange to red.

• They will molt five times until reaching adulthood.

BIOLOGY

• Adults are up to 5/8” in length, and mottled brown, with

white/black bands on their sides and white bands on antennae.

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• BMSB feed on a large number

of plants.

DAMAGE

• Host plants include:

Ornamental plants, fruit trees, vegetables and legumes.

• Adults and nymphs feed on

leaves, fruits, and vegetables:

Symptoms can vary from

stippling of leaves and

surface blemishes of fruit to

deep tissue damage and

discoloration, to deformation

and wart-like growths.

NUISANCE PESTS

• In fall, adults will enter homes seeking

shelter to overwinter

• BMSB and

a few green

stink bugs on

an exterior

wall. They

are highly

attracted to

lights.

• They are not toxic and do not cause

structural damage, but do smell.

CONTROL

•Chemical controls are available;

bifenthrin & pyrethrins.

•Native parasitoids are starting

to be found in increasing

numbers on BMSB eggs.

•Mechanical removal from small

areas is another option.

•Native to Japan

•Adults emerge late spring to early summer

•Eggs begin to hatch by midsummer.

•In late summer, grubs burrow 4-8” into soil, to overwinter

•In early spring, the grubs begin to feed and pupate

•Adults emerge after about 2 weeks of pupation

• Adults are approximately ½” in length

• They have shiny green body & bronze wings

• The beetle has 6 tufts of hair along the sides and back of body,

under the edge of the wings

• Larvae are white grubs, up to 1” long • Grubs feed on roots, and may cause turf

to brown or die in patches

• Adults may be visible feeding on foliage,

fruit or flowers during the day

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•Nebraska

has 22

infested

counties in

the state.

• Discovered in Brooklyn, NY in 1996

• Later found in

Chicago (1998), New

Jersey (2002), Toronto,

Canada (2003),

Worcester,

Massachusetts (2008),

& Bethel, Ohio (2011)

• Likely introduced on solid wood packing

material

• Anoplophora glabripennis

• Large, shiny black beetle with white spots

• Adults are .75” to 1.50” in length

• Very long antennae have black & white bands

• Adults are present May

through October

• Maples are primary hosts,

though numerous other species

may become infested

• One year life-cycle

• Round

exit holes

3/8” in

diameter

• Females chew niches in bark

& lay eggs in them

• Frass accumulates in branch

crotches & at the base of trees

• Larvae feed in the

cambium underneath bark,

disrupting the xylem &

phloem.

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•No effective trapping procedures

•No effective natural enemies

•Chemical treatments—research continues! Imadicloprid used

Reporting

If you suspect that you’ve found an

exotic, invasive, or regulatory pest:

• Collect samples, take pictures, and

make notes of what you’ve seen.

• Contact the Nebraska Department of

Agriculture at (402) 471-2351

Questions?