UK - Commercial Production of Ornamental Plants

KY IPM Funded Nursery Scout Detects and Educates on Invasive Pest

Issue:  Asian Ambrosia beetle is a small, highly destructive pest with a wide host range.  Nurseries in more southern states have provided anecdotal reports of $10,000-$15,000 in losses in one season due to this pest alone. Gradually, this pest has moved northward from the Southeast. Over the last few years, incidence of suspected Asian Ambrosia beetle in Kentucky nurseries have gone from two to more than ten. 

What Has Been Done:  The KY IPM-funded nursery scout and authors taught numerous nursery growers and their employees how to trap and scout for ambrosia beetles and the procedures for identifying Asian ambrosia beetle.  For growers in Kentucky who had suspected Asian ambrosia beetle, the scout and authors advised them as to proper disposal of infested plants in order to reduce the population in the following growing season.  Asian ambrosia beetle information was delivered at the “Putting Integrated Pest Management to Work in the Nursery” workshop and through site visits.

Impact: Growers are prepared to trap, field identify, and follow up with the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service for an identification.  Growers are aware of the wide host range of this plant, its destructive nature, and the potential for shipping this pest due to a difficult to detect lifestage during the spring shipping season.  We hope through these measures to minimize further spread within Kentucky and eliminate the spread of this pest from Kentucky.

For more information on this project contact:

Ms. A. Fulcher

Extension Associate for Nursery Crops

 N318 Agriculture Science North

 University of Kentucky

 Lexington, KY 40546-0312

 E-mail: afulcher@uky.edu

Original document: 1 October 2005 Last updated: 29 March 2006