If it were to become established, TCD could have serious economic and environmental consequences throughout the North Central region. Thousand cankers disease was detected in Knoxville, Tennessee in August, 2010 - the first discovery of the pest complex within the native range of black walnut in the eastern United States. This disease is caused by a fungus (Geosmithia morbida) vectored by a bark beetle, the walnut twig beetle (WTB), Pityophthorus juglandis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae). Goals / Objectives Thousand cankers disease (TCD) is a pest complex that has caused the widespread death of walnut trees (Juglans spp.) throughout the West. morbida is essential for managing the disease complex and determining its potential economic impact. Moreover, determining the capacity of other insects to G. Our experimental approach will demonstrate the efficacy of a kairomone lure for detecting, delimiting and monitoring WTB. The objectives of this proposal are to identify volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of black walnut that mediate host location by WTB, determine if these VOCs will synergize the activity of a commercially available pheromone lure, and characterize the fungi associated with beetles attracted to girdled branches of black walnut. Overall goals of this research are to develop a kairomone-based lure for WTB and to evaluate the capacity of other beetles attacking black walnut to vector Geosmithia morbida. Current monitoring and detection efforts for WTB rely on a pheromone lure that is effective from a distance of only ~20 m. Male WTB locate suitable black walnut hosts by orienting to host odors and, once on an appropriate tree, release volatile aggregation pheromones that coordinate mass attack and mating. This disease complex is caused by a Geosmithia fungus vectored by the walnut twig beetle (WTB). Thousand cankers disease (TCD) has caused widespread death of black walnut trees throughout the West and was recently detected in Tennessee, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Non Technical Summary This is a research project.
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