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I’m against illegal immigration.
No, it’s not what you’re thinking. The illegal immigration I’m talking about pertains to those with wings or multiple legs and antennae.
Invasive insects – those brought here from other countries. Those are the immigrants we don’t need, but in some cases they are already here.
And the threats they bring with them are enormous.
On the ground, in the tree tops and even inside the trees themselves. We’ll see it. Hear it. And curse it.
Right now it seems the gypsy moth and tent caterpillar invasion is at full scale. They can be seen crawling across roads and up the sides of trees. In areas that aren’t sprayed, the caterpillars’ voracious appetite will defoliate acres of the tree canopy, wiping away the lush greenery that we yearned for all winter.
But it’s not the end of the world.
Believe it or not, there is a benefit that results from the caterpillars.
In areas that are defoliated, the open tree canopy allows more sunlight to reach the forest floor. That light will spur the growth of saplings that were unable to compete with the towering trees above.
That kick-start will make the understory thicker, providing more browse for deer and cover for wildlife.
It will also make sure the forest has a future if the caterpillars end up killing the trees above.
True, we would be better off without gypsy moths, but there are more serious threats to our forests.
I’m talking about insects such as the emerald ash borer, longhorned beetle, metallic wood-boring beetle, bark beetle and the Sirex wood wasp. Compared to the gypsy moth, they pose a significant long-term threat to Pennsylvania’s forest.
We should be concerned.
This summer, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture will deploy 35 two-person crews to several counties, Luzerne included, to survey areas for signs of the destructive pests.
They are serious threats, and if they are found here, it’s not good.
The Sirex wood wasp has been detected in the northern part of Luzerne County and across the border to the south.
It was brought here from Europe and North Africa and first detected in the state in 2006.
The wasp has hammered pine species in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Brazil, and now it’s coming here.
The damage is done when the female wasps deposit a pathogenic fungus into a tree. The fungus kills the tree, making it more suitable as a host for wasp larvae.
The emerald ash borer is a more immediate threat to Pennsylvania. It’s been found in several areas, and the borer’s presence has led to a quarantine on the transportation of firewood from western Pennsylvania (the pest can live in the firewood and be spread to new areas via transportation).
According to a release from the Penn State’s Department of Entomology, the small beetle could devastate the entire ash tree species in North America.
It has already killed more than 30 million ash trees in southeastern Michigan and tens of millions more in Ohio and Indiana.
The emerald ash borer is already in Pennsylvania, and it may turn out to be one invasion that our forests can’t withstand.
When it comes to pests such as the ash borer, gypsy moth and wood wasp, it’s a form of illegal immigration that all of us an agree isn’t needed.