Pre-emptive biological control of Agrilus planipennis in Europe
Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae – EPPO A2 List) is a woodboring pest of Fraxinus species in North America, European Russia and Ukraine. With further spread it can threaten the European ash Fraxinus excelsior in the rest of the EPPO region. The potential for the biological control of A. planipennis using four parasitoids was evaluated using a pre-emptive biological control framework developed within the Euphresco Project ‘Preparedness in biological control of priority biosecurity threats’. The four Hymenopteran parasitoids; Oobius agrili (Encyrtidae), Spathius agrili (Braconidae), Spathius galinae and Tetrastichus planipennisi (Eulophidae) have been approved for release in North America and were tested for Europe using the pre-emptive framework. Three of the parasitoids, O. agrili, S. galinae, and T. planipennisi were found suitable for pre-emptive biological control in Europe, based mainly on the performance and adaptation to new environmental conditions in the USA. However, S. agrili has shown only limited establishment in North America, especially in areas which climate match areas in Europe where Fraxinus species are present. Based on these results, S. agrili was deemed less suitable for pre-emptive biological control of A. planipennis in Europe.
Sources
Horrocks KJ, Seehausen ML, Down RE, Audsley N, Maggini R, Collatz J (2024) Assessing the feasibility of pre-emptive biological control against the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis, an imminent biosecurity threat to Europe. Biological Control 198, 105641 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105641
Euphresco Digital Research Object Portal: https://drop.euphresco.net/data/899689f2-2e7f-4d07-998c-fc3ba70c4f19/