There have been some new announcments regarding EAB recently...more states with reported finds. Virginia on July 14th, Missouri on July 23rd and Wisconsin on August 1st have reported new finds. To keep up on the latest information or to learn more about identifying the pest, slowing its spread, and other control or prevention measures check out www.emeraldashborer.info. They have done an excellent job of compiling this information.
According to a Chicago Tribune story, one specimen of ALB has been found in a Chicago parking lot. This has lead to a storm of questions and a wide search to find the tree this beetle came from. About 5 years ago, the eradication effort was considered successful but monitoring continued for the pest. The full story is available at the Chicago Tribune.
We've been working on installing some new features in the BugwoodWiki. These are meant to be helpful additions to make editing easier and provide added functionality. Here is a list of the new features (Click on the link for more details):
Tom Harrington (Iowa State University) and Stephen Fraedrich (USDA Southern Research Station) have recently published a description of the fungus causing Laurel wilt and have named it Raffaelea lauricola. The article in the April-June issue (104) in Mycotaxon will soon be available online. Until the article is released, you can see the press release about this naming at Iowa State University and Science Daily.
A new pesticide has been registered for control of Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipenis). It shows some promise for controling the borer in areas where EAB is already present but the trees are apparently healthy. More testing will be done to reinforce these findings. You can find details about this innovation in the press release.
In the wake of introduced speices wreaking havoc in varoiu areas of the country, some states have begun to regulate the movement of firewood. New York has just issued an emergency regulation to limit the movement of firewood to 50 miles from where it is harvested. They have a very nice Frequently Asked Questions seciton explaining the rules and the reasoning behind it.
We do get image use request from all over the world. Occasionally, we get a copy of the material the pictures get used in. Here is a recent use of an image in a Norwegian Newspaper. If I was up on my lanuguages, I'm sure that I would find it to be a great article on Pine Wilt Nematode.
Many of you may know of Terry Spivey from his wildlife images he took while working for the Forest Service. He has now retired and started "Terry Spivey Photography". He was kind enough to send os some of his latest digital work. You can take a look at the new material on his new author page.
We've just received a great set of images showing Agrilus planipennis laying eggs! These images were taken by Marianne Prue from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry. You can view them at her author page.
As many of you are aware, we have launched the BugwoodWiki; A wiki that has direct access to the Bugwood Image Archives. Authorship for the wiki is restricted to "BugwoodWiki Scholars"; individuals who have asked to be authors and have some credentials or experience to back up their articles. We also require the authors to put their name on their articles so that they can be properly credited if the article is used elsewhere. All of the articles may be used in non-profit, educational publications as long as all of the citations are maintained.
One of the barriers to using any "wiki" is learning the "wiki language". Although it is a very easy format to write in, the concept of learning a new language and flashbacks of past experiences with HTML is often a deterrent. To help ease this dread, the Bugwood Network is offering online training sessions. The first of these training sessions is a basic lesson to get people started. It will provide people with a basic set of skills to use while editing any MediaWiki system (BugwoodWiki, eXtension, Wikipedia, etc.).
If you are interested in attending a session or just becoming a BugwoodWiki Scholar, contact our webmaster.
