2022 SLF Summit Q and A
Compiled by Nancy Cusumano, Northeastern IPM Center
Tony McCloskey Penn DOT Bureau of Aviation (amccloskey@pa.gov)
Q. What about military aircraft such as the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds. Are they being made aware of the risk of transport since they put on shows all over the country?
A. Unknown.
Q. Is there a reporting database for SLF found on (pre-flight or destination) aircraft inspections?
A. Not that we are aware of.
Q. Did your employees detect any evidence of SLF after the training?
Comment: the PA DCNR Bureau of Forestry sends notices to all PA airfields informing them of our spongy moth (gypsy moth) spray program during the month of May. They post the information and the staff and visitors to the terminals are informed and know who to contact regarding the program. So, signs at the airfields do work.
Q. Have SLF been found on modern aircraft?
A. Yes, dead adults
Comment: It would be good to know what smaller airports do NOT store their planes in closeable hangars, and have them instead with just tarps or in an open-air hangar. Since the quality of the storage facility can dictate whether the SLF is capable of hitching a ride or leaving an egg mass.
Q. Do regional or smaller air fields represent a transportation risk for SLF?
A. Yes they do
Q. What about egg masses on planes?
A. No reports
Q. What is the Bureau of Aviation's role with PA Air National Guard? or Army National Guard?
A. There is none.
Q. Do you or a sister agency handle commercial watercraft? What about inland barge traffic on the western side of the state in the Ohio River Valley?
Piera Siegert, New Hampshire State Entomologist (piera.y.siegert@agr.nh.gov) presenting the New Hampshire Nursery report
Q. Has this 2020 find of SLF impacted sales from states with infestations to NH nurseries?
A. No.
Q. What tree species were egg masses on?
A. Primarily red maple, willow, Prunus sp., hemlock.
Q. Do we know where those trees with the egg masses came from?
Q. How does Millican work upstream with their suppliers? Do they notify them? Did they decide to do business elsewhere?
A. Yes, they did back trace to those suppliers. They did not change suppliers if there was improvement by the suppliers.
Q. Did any vendors that shipped SLF egg masses follow-up with their response? I am wondering if new BMPs were implemented at the shipping nurseries?
A. Not know at this time.
Q. Are you going to set up traps this year at Millican?
A. Probably, yes.
Q. This nursery is voluntarily participating with NH Ag? What about nurseries that would consider this additional regulatory steps (a lot of steps) that are not mandatory (no quarantine)?
A. They are doing this training with some other nurseries. It is a lot of work for these nurseries. They are not sure that NH would see significant SLF population, and have low grape production so are not sure on QT at this time.
Q. Given the quantity of egg masses found with a company that has such an aggressive mitigation program, aren’t you concerned about nurseries that do not have such a program?
A. Yes, they are and try and survey especially red maples. More work has to be done by the origin nurseries. That is where this has to pick up. Supplying state depts of ag are stepping up.
Q. Did you stop sale the entire shipment or just trees with egg masses? Did you treat all the trees.
A. Yes.
Q. How can we interpret the detection of 2 adults in September 2021? Do you consider that SLF completed its life cycle, or is it still considered as an interception?
A. I consider this as an interception. We did extensive survey of the nursery and surrounding areas following the 2020 interception. I have a reasonable degree of confidence that the 2 adults in 2021 were from the egg masses introduced that year. SLF adults can give you an idea as to whether or not they have reached reproductive maturity based on the size and coloration visible on their abdomens. The two adults which were captured in 2021 had not yet achieved maturity (nor had any of those in 2020). The detection of the two adults in 2021 initiated another whole set of surveys and inspections similar to that in 2020 and no further life stages were found. So - reasonable certainty that these were from the 2021 introduction, not yet at reproductive maturity, and no other life stages found has me classifying this as an interception rather than an established population. It's hard to find an egg mass. Something was missed, but the overall effort was successful in spite of less than 100% detection rate.
Greg Krawczyk Penn State Tree Fruit Entomology (gxk13@psu.edu)
Dormant oil as ovicide
Q. For the first set of results on ovicidal trials, mineral oil (high concentration) was effective at control, what was the other treatment(non-oil) that was most effective?
A. Lorsban/Chlorpyrifos but that as no label for food products anymore in PA so that is out.
Q. Was it bifenthrin in the nets?
A. No, different pyrethroids. Commercially produced nets for malaria control.
Q. Were the ovicide efficacy trials conducted in field conditions or in incubators?
A. Both. Field lab and out in the field, parks, neighborhoods etc.
Q. When treating with Golden oil, were the egg masses covered in the oil or was higher pressure applied to blast off the coating? Wanted to know if there was a difference in efficacy.
A. They applied Golden Oil many times in many ways. Mostly as direct spray with hand held applicator and not higher than 5% because of high phytotoxicity. Commercial applicators used the higher % application and that was higher pressure.
Michela Centinari PA wine industry impact
Q. Did you follow up on carbon assimilation rates later on to see if they rebounded at all?
No they did not see that.
Christina Rosa Plant responses to SLF and pathogens transmitted
Comment: Maybe Monsanto/Bayer could do something good for once and create a GMO terminal seed Tree of Heaven with an insecticide in it already and plant them within SLF hot spots? TOH is also invasive right? So it shouldn't hurt native insects? Just a thought... probably super naïve of me.
Q. Were the plants used in the molecular analysis also covered in sooty mold? I.e., does response of plant also include response to sooty mold together with SLF feeding?
A. Actually no, they did not have any sooty mold, but we suspect that some of these responses could be associated to secondary microbes associated to the SLF or already present on the plant and maybe stimulated by the insect's secretions
Anne Nielsen, Rutgers University Entomology nielsen@njaes.rutgers.edu
Movement in grapevines
no questions
Richard Blair Vineyard Grower (blairvineyards@hotmail.com)
Q. Couldn't the tree of heaven be controlled with basal applications or cut surface treatments to prevent the vapor drift problem?
A. Yes basal applications and hack and squirt methods were utilized by PDA and USDA. But homeowners may not be as knowledgeable or sensitive to regarding movement of the chemical.
Q. Why are Host trees not cut down? Like Tree of Heaven. Would eliminating these trees not be a help?
A. Some host removal has been completed. Tree removal is expensive. In the case with Tree of Heaven if the removal is not done properly it will actually cause multiple trees to sprout. Removal of the host is being researched. We continue to look for all options in protecting areas where SLF has not been found.
Q. Are SLF densities in other vineyards near you the same? If there are any others near you?
A. Yes densities are down in the area.
Q. What level of threat does SLF pose to your bottom line? Do you feel that SLF is an existential threat to your business? Do you worry about other pests more than SLF?
A. SLF is the worst of the pests they deal with. The out of pocket expense to replant is substantial. It is a long term expense that a lot of vineyards (out of area) don’t have to put up with. Not sure how they will able to do it.
Donnell Brown National Grape Research Alliance
Comment: The Penn State Egg Hatch Prediction Map is not an indicator of where eggs could be, it is an indicator of how much hatch would have occurred in a given year IF eggs were present based on growing degree dates accumulated to date. It is a tool for managers to know when to scout and begin treatments if they choose to do so and meant to be used in real time.
Q. Has there been any research on controls for SLF in organic vineyards / for organic table grapes? Would netting be allowed / effective in these settings?
A. Netting yes, as long as it is not touching the grapes.
Q. But have any studies been done on how SLF has impacted carbon and nutrient cycling in Ag commodities?
A. Answered live
Matt Helmus and associates (mrhelmus@temple.edu)
Forecasting and Modeling
Here is the app that Stephanie just presented https://iecolab.shinyapps.io/PDEmodelMap/
https://iecolab.org/slfDashboard/index.html
Q. We find that SLF eggs require chill before the nymphs will hatch. Is there any evidence in the field of non-diapausing eggs?
A. It is a possibility yes. But a very small portion.
A. That was Melody Keena who got hatch at a constant 15 C and is working on SLF adaptation to very cold and very warm temps.
A. Based on what my colleagues say, diapause seems to be observed universally as of now.
A. Melody Keena has obtained hatch without a chill period but since freezing temps always happen in the winter, conditions in the field haven’t shown this yet. Maybe Melody will say more about this tomorrow.
A. There is experimental evidence and anecdotal evidence that non-chilled development in eggs is a possibility and diapause might be a plastic trait.
Anything published?
Also, just to reiterate the point from Stephanie's presentation: the predictive models show that there are locations where lack of diapause will incur a significant reproductive advantage. So if plasticity is possible, there will likely be a strong drift towards it.
Q. How are winter temperatures incorporated into the survival and growth models that have been presented here?
A. Mortality induced by winter temperatures is incorporated into a per-capita per-day mortality rate that was calibrated to data from lab survival studies
Q. Why are primary airports rated so low? Did you consider interception reports of SLF hitchhikers or "jumps" that might not be publicly available information?
A. Only used established populations. Airports are a risk, just not as high a risk as RR.
Q. What data are being used? Are these the data from S. Korea or is it based on winter survival in US populations? Cold tolerance can be highly plastic depending on exposure conditions.
A. An amalgam of data from S. Korea and the US was used.
Miriam Cooperband, USDA-APHIS miriam.f.cooperband@aphis.usda.gov
SLF Attraction
Q. What Was the species of trees used?
A. Tree of Heaven
Q. Does SLF use acoustic mechanisms for communication?
A. Very little, and only after mating.
Q. Did you have sticky bands on the trees to recapture?
A. They were circle traps
Q. If there are any attractive volatiles they could be coming from microbes growing in the honeydew.
A. It is a possibility, but still unknown.
Q. Have you looked into visual attraction? Seeing a large number of insects on a tree may draw more in?
A. No they have not looked at visual attraction.
Q. Were SLF used in test wild collected? Would the feeding host of SLF influence the compounds emitted by SLF sexes? (As SLF is known to sequester quassionoids from Tree of heaven, wondering how this unique compound influence response)
A. They were all field-caught. They were caught on ToH and extracted in large batches of several hundred SLF, so differences in individual feeding were most likely averaged over the samples.
Q. I am very interested in how close the association is with ToH and how dependent SLF is on ToH, therefore would be interested in if SLF not grown on TOH, how it would influence attraction/communication in SLF
A. If field-collected males were feeding on different diets than females, which is plausible given that they are found at different proportions on different host species, it's possible that that could be reflected in the honeydew volatiles the different sexes produce.
Julie Gould USDA-APHIS (juli.r.gould@aphis.usda.gov)
SLF Biocontrol
Q. Are SLF egg cases ever consumed by Virginia opossums or other insectivores?
A. Kelli Hoover has been working on SLF predation. I have not studied this.
Q. Apologies if I missed this, but which locus/loci was/were used to estimate the phylogeny and determine haplotypes for Anastatus?
A. The COI barcode does not reliably produce good results. Yunke Wu designed an A. orientalis specific primer to run the tests.
Q. "found a miticide that doesn't hurt SLF nymphs." Does that mean some of the miticides reduced SLF nymph populations? If so, might that be a short term management solution (e.g. SLN or 2EE pesticide label)?
A. I'm not aware of any miticides that hurt SLF, but it's always something we need to watch out for. Just a general concern.
Q. Did egg mass substrate in native range influence rate of parasitism?
A. This is published, but I can't remember which publication it is in. I'm sure if you Googled A. orientalis manuscripts you could find it. Let me know if you want me to find it.
Q. Julie, have you tried a fluctuating temperature regime for egg mass storage to improve hatch?
A. No we haven't yet. I will pass that suggestion onto Mauri.
Research Overview – Laura Nixon, Johanna Elsensohn
Q. Laura how long after early instars were removed did you measure tree diameter of peaches?
A. The day they were removed was when they took all the measurements. They were on for a full week.
Q. Hi Johanna, are you planning to look at, apart from survival and development time, also female reproductive development (or fecundity if possible) of the nymphs you are going to rear on the different Vitis species compared to ToH?
A. Yes, they will be investigating this.
SLF Summit Day two
Julie Urban and associates, SCRI update
Q. For cucumber the high SFL indicating low yield, is the low yield based on yield (g/ha) or marketable yield (size type)?
A. Cucumber yield was assessed as total number of fruit per plant and weight of fruit. So that yield measure in the graph was combined weight of all fruit
Q. Could cooling/decreasing temperatures rather than the accumulation of warmer temperatures be the cue to move to alternate hosts and oviposit?
A. It could be or it could be day length. They are still looking at this too.
Q. Were GDD from January 1 or April 1?
A. January 1
Charles Bartlett, UDel, bio control
Q. Is any sterile male releasing updates for SLF?
A. No sterile release of SLF because we cannot rear them en masse in the lab.
Q. What's the difference between scraped and chipped egg masses and how does that affect rearing?
A. Chipping entails removing the bark that the egg mass is on, which may damage the tree and homeowners and parks people don’t like that. So they scrape the egg masses instead.
Tracy Leskey
Q. Is there any research on whether native species like assassin bugs are preying upon SLF?
A. They are, but not in any great numbers to affect population.
Q. With 1m (off the ground) trap deployment, did you have any animal interference?
A. No.
Q. Were the locations in publicly accessible zones? Did you have any human interference?
A. Not too public. Never had any trouble with them. Extension in WV and VA did a good job with communications. No interference.
Kelli Hoover, Penn State
Q. Are there different definitions for "hot tree"?
A. Tons of SLF on a tree where there are other trees of same species and very few SLF on them. This lingers over time.
Q. Any chance hot trees have specific soil and water characteristics or nutrient absorption/synthesis.
A. Yes, we think that they could change uptake with the TC09 leading to a better quality tree (from the SLF perspective)
Q. Is there any information on the theory that native predators are less likely to consume SLF that feed on tree of heaven? I believe the theory is that the SLF that feed on TOH become poisonous or less tasteful to predators.
A. they do see some effect on bird predation but not on arthropod predation.
Q. Is it appropriate to assure property owners that they won't lose plants that SLF are feeding on? Many folks are worried that they will lose trees, flowers, and bushes.
A. Young plants are definitely more sensitive to SLF. We see 1st instars feeding on flowering plants and roses, but they move on before doing harm in the field.
Q. Any notable feeding on American sweetgum?
A. Yes
Q. SLF on black walnut, was branch mortality in the lower branches?
A. Yes, upper, lower, all.
Q. Here in DC, we are interested in potential impacts on community gardens and urban farms. Is it a good assumption to prioritize removal of Ailanthus from these areas?
A. Yes if you can.
Q. Would offspring reared on other hosts in absence of ToH be able to maintain fitness over several generations on those hosts?
A. Kelli's data showed that the fitness of offspring reared on other hosts was reduced.
SLF Phenology and forest impacts
Melody Keena
Q. Does Talbot’s model incorporate diapause? I might have missed that.
A. This model will eventually, but we are still working on how to conceptualize that part.
Q. I'm sorry I missed the discussion on sequestration earlier - did one of the presenters in previous session mention that more studies into SLF sequestration is planned/to be undertaken?
A. Yes, my graduate student Anne Johnson is studying sequestration of quassinoids (bitter tasting, heavily hydrogenated triterpenes) by SLF reared with or without access to Ailanthus and impacts on predation by native predators and birds.
Houping Liu
Q. Do SLF nymphs and egg masses show up in heat mapping?
A. No, they do not.
Q. What time of the summer were the glowing SLF seen?
A. September or October
Q. Were the SLF that light up Male or Female?
A. They did not test for this but may do that this year.
Q. Did you try using IR during day hours?
A. Yes in other observations and it worked too. Technically we should be able to use IRT anytime during the day. However, environmental radiation is much stronger when the sun is out.
Jennifer Chandler
Q. Was the tape trap reset after each individual SLF?
A. Yes
Q. Jennifer, did you ever try Bug Barrier?
A. With bug barrier, I think they're more likely to get stuck on their back/wings.
A. Bug barrier was not cost effective in this instance. But they may try again as there’s much less bycatch.
A. We find that 4ths and especially adults are less likely to be trapped. Would be nice to know the % of escapes for those life stages.
Q. Besides Tree of Heaven, were there any other species of trees used for this experiment?
A. Red Maple and TOH, boxelder, hickory, black walnut, birch, sycamore, and several other species.
Q. Do you have any data on double sticky banding?
A. No, nothing on that.
Q. Just wondering how do you decide the length of escape window? 2 minutes?
A. If they had not escaped by 2 minutes, they did not ever escape.
Q. Will you consider adjusting the time period depending on day/night captures?
A. Never thought about that option.
Q. Did you consider tanglefoot applied to tree wrap paper?
A. Tanglefoot is pretty messy and not easy to use.
Q. Did you observe any avoidance behaviors? In the field, we've noticed adults using their front legs to test the surface and not advancing onto the sticky surface.
A. Yes they did in every life stage. # of legs that became stuck was an issue.
Communications
Jillian Stevenson Penn State Communications
For access to the OneDrive, please email Jillian Stevenson: jstevenson@psu.edu
Q. How do you decide where to place the rack cards or who to share them with? Do you have any data on whether these materials are changing any behaviors?
A. Depends on the location in some ways. Urban areas where there is less extension staff. Depends on the situation and target area.
Q. How is the success of these SLF awareness ad campaigns measured?
Q. Have efficacy polls or results been conducted to gauge the impact of the SLF video, billboard, and print outreach in PA or elsewhere?
Q. How do you decide whether or not to continue using specific outreach methods or materials?
A. They have not removed any of their outreach items.
A. They do use the analytics to website hits. That is the only way they can track impact at this time. They have not done any surveying as of yet.
LA-Less SLF heavy areas were targeted more heavily as general public were not as aware of it.
Q. Would you use "Destroy" in an ad again?
Q. When you tell them to "kill" it do you have any idea how people interpreted that?
A. They changed from kill to destroy. Kind of toned it down.
Q. Have you developed or adapted a smartphone app to support identification and reporting SLF sightings?
A. They do not have that and no plans to. The PDA reporting tool directs people a look alikes page that is available via phone but not specifically an app for it.
Q. What was the billboard budget?
A. Not sure.
Q. Thanks for all the great resources and insights! Do you have any metrics on the efficacy of the billboards?
Q. What do radio ads cost? Did you get funding for that?
A. They did get USDA funding. $35,000
Q. What was your budget?-
A. Our budget has decreased over the years, from $250k and now it is significantly lower. Currently they do weekly news releases to various outlets – multiple stories throughout the year and they track those for impact via analytics. FB ads are low cost, so they are still doing those.
NY and the changing message – Chris Logue
Q. What was the original origin of the SLF?
A. The initial confirmation of a population was in PA in 2014. The origin for the introduction to PA is believed to have been from material from China.
Cecelia Sequeira APHIS Comm K.Cecilia.Sequeira@usda.gov
www.aphis.usda.gov/hungrypests/slfbiz
www.aphis.usda.gov/hungrypests/slf
Cecelia
Q. Does USDA have a supply of the acrylic mounts to distribute to states for outreach?
A. No.
Q. For Jillian or Cecilia, have you found that media outlets will offer ad space for a lower, public-interest type announcement. Or would for example a state vintner association would help underwrite an ad budget?
A. It is unusual for media outlets to offer any kind of discount
Extension section
Amy Korman and Sarah Frame, PSU extension
Q. Does the management options guide connect all this with the term Integrated Pest Management?
A. Yes, it does.
NY Extension outreach Brian E
Q. To date, have any impacted states needed special registrations or use authorizations for specific insecticides from EPA or the State Pesticide Agencies? FIFRA Section 18, 24(c) or 2(ee) for example.
A. Yes, NY needed it.
Q. Has anything been done to try to search for eggs during the winter near these vineyards?
A. Yes, they are constantly surveying.
Tricia Bethke, Morton Arb, EDDMaps
Q. Does EDDMaps allow fields such as DBH or size class for TOH records?
A. No but you can put that info in the notes.
CA extension, Missy Gable, Master Gardner program, mjgable@ucanr.edu
Q. Are you requiring master gardener to take and pass the SLF training to retain certification?
A. SLF training is not required at the moment but they are expecting a big response to the offer of this training.
Summit Day 3
Monitor and Treatment Blue Marsh Update
David Biddinger, Rick Roush
Comment: Minimal effect of Beauveria: That's because of numerous ecological and behavioral "barriers" to sufficient contact between fungus spores and NTO insect. Have seen this in a number of situations when I commercialized the GHA Beauveria.
Q. Would dinotefuran application in July be appropriate timing?
A. Early July at least. Dependent on local climate and seasonal development, but at least through about July 10.
Monitor and Detection
Joe Francese, Joe Keller
Q. Are you using a lure? did the circle traps have attractants?
A. USDA has searched for attractants. My understanding is that there are no promising candidates. We find the most attractive thing is tall objects.
Q. I am also interested in trap attractant as well as using traps as a control method and the best density to place traps when they are being used for SLF control.
A. We're talking about using traps as a control method, but we definitely need a better attractant before we can start going down that road.
Q. Any plans to test circle trap catch on Chinaberry?
A. They might in the future. But Chinaberry does not grow in cold climates where SLF currently is.
A. I've talked to Amy and they (NC) have a strong interest in Chinaberry since it is more common down here in the wooded areas. But yeah I don't know how you test that unless the southern areas of SLF in VA has Chinaberry.
A. We conducted some of our early work in China at a Chinaberry plantation. Interestingly, SLF vanished when they reached the adult stage.
Q. Was that sooty mold on top of the malaise trap?
A. yes
Q. Does orientation of trap on tree affect catch - N, S, E, W side?
A. We try to put them facing out from an edge if we can. So it's really dependent on that.
Q. any thoughts on using empty water bottles to trap SLF (homeowner use probably)? I saw an article online referencing work from Temple University. https://www.silive.com/gracelyn/2022/02/watch-video-this-empty-water-bottle-hack-for-trapping-the-spotted-lanternfly-is-going-viral.html
A. We use them to do hand collections. It works, but you have to sneak up on them.
Q. Any confusion with Gypsy Moth egg masses at height with binocs?
Q. I started working in the field at the end of September last year. I noticed that the adult SLF preferred the sunny side of the trees, usually the South facing side. Did anyone else notice this in the Fall? Same in the summer? If so, maybe it would be best to install the circle traps facing South?
A. I agree, there definitely does seem to be some preference for one side of trees over others. We try to select trees that are small enough that the circle trap can fully wrap around the whole trunk, so that climbing SLF will be caught no matter which side they climb. Opting for the southside on trees that are too large seems reasonable to me!
Q. I may have missed it, but is there a 'best' time for trap placement and capture? It sounded like by a certain time (Aug maybe) SLF was not as prevalent in traps
A. They tend to move off of the ToH at the 2nd/3rd instar stage in June/July, and you see them on other hosts at that time. They'll return to TOH as adults (Aug/September).
Q. Ok, great information! We are targeting a volunteer campaign and would like to tweak the intensity of folks checking traps to be most efficient for their time and effort and effective at capture.
A. Great! The more people out there looking and reporting the better. Allocating effort does seem to be tricky thing to optimize. I agree with Joe F's recommendation to check traps at around 2 week intervals to make sure they aren't damaged and that any individuals caught don't deteriorate so they can still be IDed.
Q. Thanks for the presentation Joe! Do you think BugBarrier is more effective than sticky bands to detect low population? Can we expect the same rate of escape presented yesterday by Dr. Chandler?
A. I think both trap types perform very similarly. So, cost and personal preference may inform your decision. I missed Dr. Chandler's talk yesterday - I'll have to go back and watch.
I remember a talk a few years ago by Miriam Cooperband showing that Bug Barrier traps are more effective than the Korean sticky traps (Web Cote). Bug Barrier also has lower bycatch of non-targets.
Verticillium wilt, Raghavan Charudattan
Q. Have you seen any regrowth of Ailanthus from year to year?
A. We've seen trees Ailanthus "killed" (most likely) by SLF, however we also see regrowth surging from the roots in subsequent years.
Q. Do you mean regrowth of Ailanthus after herbicide application? if that’s the question, it does happen sometimes.
A. Between inoculation and mortality TOH can resprout, but despite the tree’s best effort, they still succumb. Usually epicormics sprouts are formed from higher up to lower down on the tree as the higher sprouts (and regular tree branches) die. Not all trees sprout, seemed like only the more vigorous ones did. Never saw a VN inoculated tree survive due to sprouting, just delay dying by a bit. Our PA and VA field study have some info on individual trees with symptoms over time, but since VN killed trees so effectively, we didn’t have to parse out symptom development in the analysis, and could just look at overall control (death). In fact, seeing the epicormics sprouting is a sign that this tree is on its final hurrah, and not a sign it is going to survive VN.
Q. How to recover VN from a wilted TOH tree and how long does VN survive in the dead tree? Charu’s answer: take a few pieces of wood from the base of the trunk, a few inches up to a foot above the soil line, and plate. For the second part of the question: I don’t know, but in general, it is best to try to recover soon after the tree starts to wilt. A tree that has been dead for an year or two may have been invaded by wood-rotting fungi that interfere with VN recovery.
A. A fresh piece of vascular tissue, ideally lower down on the tree and with staining. Should be from a tree that is symptomatic but not dead. Once the tree has died, I was never able to isolate VN from dead wood, and I tried on probably ~100 samples my first year. Later I only bothered isolating if the tree was dying or very recently dead (0% rot seen on inner bark/sapwood). TOH rots very quickly, if the tree has been dead for a year or even a handful of months, I wouldn’t even bother trying to isolate VN from it. Now, maybe VN was still present and viable, but culturing in a lab was no longer possible.
Q. Specifically regarding Verticillium, has there been regrowth of Ailanthus after treatment the next year? I've seen in the field that even after significant herbicide, some trees just don't die.
A. With VN that was naturally found along with field tests of VN isolates, I have not heard of any regrowth. The results have been that significantly more TOH is killed beyond those that are inoculated.
Q. Can more specifics be given on findings regarding other potentially-vulnerable species?
A. Based on published results (https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/PDIS-04-14-0391-RE particularly Table 3), the following species were ruled susceptible when inoculated with VN or because they were found to be diseased when growing in proximity to a disease Ailanthus altissima: Striped maple, Acer pensylvanicum; Autumn olive, Elaeagnus umbellate; Black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia; Corkwood, Leitneria floridana; Eastern redbud, Cercis canadensis; Japanese maple, Acer palmatum; Northern catalpa, Catalpa speciosa; Norway maple, Acer platanoides; Sassafras, Sassafras albidum; Devil’s walkingstick, Aralia spinosa.
And these following species were ruled “possibly susceptible” because plants became symptomatic but VN could not be recovered from these plants: Staghorn sumac, Rhus typhina; Amur corktree, Phellodendron amurense; Angelica tree, Aralia elata; Crossvine, Bignonia capreolata; Northern spicebush, Lindera benzoin; Poison-ivy, Toxicodendron pubescens; Redbay, Persea borbonia; Red elderberry, Sambucus racemosa.
Q. How is VN inoculated into Ailanthus host in the field?
A. At this time it has been inoculation into the tree for best effect. I have also seen reports of infected wood being places in cuts on TOH. The spore solution has been put into cuts also. That is one challenge is how to inoculate or apply in a successful manner that can be done if possible with individual trees having to be treated by hand.
Q. Very interesting work. How is the control of the verticillium sp. into mature TOH? How do you apply it into mature TOHs ?
A. The reports of naturally occurring VN did not distinguish any difference with smaller or larger TOH being affected. In inoculated plots, it was similar from my understanding. The inoculation at this time is almost a hack and squirt where a cut is made in the trunk of TOH and inoculum of VN applied. The application method is still being worked on.
Q. When is best time to take sample from wilted TOH and recover VN in culture? And where on tree to take sample - twig, branch, tree stem, root collar, or roots?
A. This is a really good question. I know it was isolated in PA, OH, and VA and I think WV. I would steer you towards papers by Don Davis at PSU. Matt Kasson at WVU and also Kristen Wickert at WVU. There are also papers from Europe. Sorry I don't have more details.
Q. Are there concerns that TOH could become resistant to VN?
A. Not really a big concern. So far resistance to VN has NOT been found in TOH. Should resistance occur, the VN isolates in our collections (at PSU and WVU) could be screened to possibly find an isolate that is virulent on the resistant genotype.
Q. Has eastern black walnut been tested as a suitable host for VN?
A. Yes, it is resistant.
Treatment
Spencer Walse
Q. Do we expect methyl bromide to be exempted from the phase out forever?
A. He hopes so.
Phil Lewis
Q. Why do SLF flare their wings after dinotefuran treatment but not after bifenthrin?
A. Their nervous system reacting to the pesticide
Q. When is the optimum time to apply the golden oil FOR EFFECTIVENESS?
A. They will be looking at that this year.
Q. Timing on egg mass treatment –
A. Anytime in winter and on through spring. As long as warm enough.
Q. What was the botanic product?
A. Product made locally called SLF killer
Brian Walsh – timing of treatment
Q. What is overspray like with a hydraulic gun?
A. Lots. Lots and lots. It is an inefficient method to apply, but necessary to get good coverage up the trees. Drift is also a major concern. I may have forgot to mention that we only got up to 28% because the agitation in the pump made the mix emulsify and take on a milkshake consistency.
Q. Is there any data on efficacy of scraping with poles?
A. Not that I am aware of.
USDA response and Ops plan Matt Travis, Erin Otto
Can we get those links posted in the chat?
FY 2023 PPA 7721
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/ppa-projects
Hungry Pests website
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/pests-diseases/hungry-pests/hungrypests
USDA APHIS PPQ Spotted lanternfly website
Environmental Documentation for program Link: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/plant-pest-and-disease-programs/ea/ct_slf
Data collection and overview Liz Wills
https://maps.mrp.usda.gov/arcgis/home
Q. Liz, can you go more into detail about why working offline is so important? When we have multiple teams working onsite, having live updates helps with coordinating treatment. After the last field maps webinar, I downloaded it and the markup layer is super helpful
A. You have to be connected to the portal the entire time when working on-line. Connectivity can be an issue. Data is stored on phone when working off line.
There are ways to set up phones not in air-plane mode. But they have to be set up that way.
Q. If a state doesn't have a population, but has individual SLF observations, which field maps are used?
A. You can use the national survey for data entry.
Q. Is exporting from the web application available to users with field worker only licenses? Or is this supervisor use only?
A. Supervisor only right now, but users can be added upon request.
Q. Why are there multiple applications instead of just one?
A. All have individual purposes, making pulling data easier.
A. Use the Property assessment map is for treatments.
State Specific Coordination
New York, Frank Buccello
Q. Were there any tree removals done at the Conklin/Binghamton site to date?
A. No, no tree removals. But may be under consideration in the future.
Q. Are you looking for volunteers to assist with egg mass search and destroying in any of these areas?
A. Audrey the best way to get connected to volunteer opportunity is to contact your regional PRISM if you are in New York. Link for NYS PRISM's https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/47433.html
Q. Are there protocols on training detector dogs? NY-NJ Trail Conference would have to be contacted on that. PPG also has some of that info.
Or will Joy be detailing that information?
Q. When was the second (Hudson river area) newburgh infestation found?
A. Last summer 2021
Q. What is the furthest north you are seeing reproducing populations? Anything upstate with really cold winters?
A. Ithaca is furthest north and did have full life cycle.
Q. What were the predominant species of trees that were removed in Ithaca?
A. Maples, mixed with ailanthus and scrub.
Q. Hi there! NC detector dog handler here. Do you mind sending me contact info for the handlers up in NY? I’d love to connect and learn from their experiences!
Thanks Jacqueline.Fredieu@ncagr.gov
Virginia, Tina MacIntyre
Comment-They got an exception for dinotefuran basal injections due to the wetlands issues at the location.
Q. Were the USDA sentinel traps circle traps or sentinel trees?
A. The sentinel traps were TOH that were treated with Transect and then had containers under them that would catch dead SLF.
Ohio, Dave Atkins
New counties/locations in OH?
West Virginia, James Watson
Q. What are tub traps?
A. They are using sentinel traps there
Q. What is your threshold for bifenthrin application
A. We don't have a numerical threshold, but in our cases, we only have a few insects present on trees, just smash them and don't feel that is enough to warrant the use of Bifenthrin (environmental issues, etc.) We have used it on trees that are covered with them but that has been rare.
Indiana, Megan Abraham
Q. Was there any consideration that the introduction in Indiana was brought from tourism to the nearby wine festival?
A. Megan said they did consider that but then when the landowner said he moved from PA they thought it was more likely where the infestation came from
Question for all states: At urban sites with tree of heaven in places when it's not possible to treat TOH with herbicide and leave as it will become hazardous in a high traffic site - what protocols are being used? What herbicides are recommended after a partial removal of TOH?
A. Herbicides are well described here: https://extension.psu.edu/tree-of-heaven
Joy Goforth Detector Dogs
Q. How long is the canine training program?
A. 8 weeks for the handlers, not sure how long for the dogs. Several weeks.