Down!

We don't have the brown marmorated stink bug here in New England, as least not yet. They were introduced to the Allentown PA area from Asia some time during the last 10 years. And they are on the move. I was visiting some friends in the NW suburbs of Philly in late September and the stink bugs were everywhere. And they can be damaging to crops and fruit trees. They will probably be in New England in the next 10 years or so. Just another invasive pest with no local predators to worry about.

PM2: The University of RI people have been releasing parasitic wasps that attack the Red Lily Leaf Beetle and they seem to be working too. I occasionally see a Red Lily Leaf Beetle but they haven't been a big problem here for years. "Research efforts to manage the lily leaf beetle have concentrated on classical biological control which acquaints natural enemies (from the pest’s native range) with their host in its introduced range. LLB came from Europe so European parasitoids were released with the intent of establishing and distributing themselves to provide long term control rather than needing to provide regular releases each year. Researchers at the University of Rhode Island and their collaborators have identified three parasitoids (wasps) that are specific to the genus Lilioceris and were approved by the USDA APHIS PPQ for field release. These parasitoids cause a high level of parasitism in lily leaf beetle populations throughout Europe. Tetrastichus setifer, Lemophagus errabundus, and Diaparsis jucunda have been a part of release, recovery, establishment, and distribution studies in New England from 1999 – 2016 and beyond. T. setifer is a gregarious larval parasitoid native to a large range in Europe and overwinters as mature larvae in host cocoons in the soil. Because of the large range of climatic conditions T. setifer survives in its native distribution, it is likely the best candidate for controlling lily leaf beetle in the Northeast. L. errabundus is a solitary larval parasitoid that overwinters as a teneral (freshly molted) adult in the host cocoon in the soil and is also native to Europe. D. jucunda is also a solitary larval parasitoid native to Europe and attacks all larval instars of the lily leaf beetle. Tewksbury et al 2017 reports releases of T. setifer in Wellesley, MA (and establishment and spread); Waltham, MA (establishment was not confirmed in Tewksbury et al 2017); and Cumberland, RI (establishment and spread). They also report releases of L. errabundus in Kingston, RI and Plainville, MA (establishment and spread were confirmed in Plainville). D. jucunda was released in Cumberland, RI (establishment confirmed) and Orono, ME (establishment confirmed nearby the release site). For More Information, Visit: The University of Maine: https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2450e/ Tewksbury, L., R. Casagrande, N. Cappuccino, and M. Kenis. 2017. Establishment of Parasitoids of the Lily Leaf Beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in North America. Environmental Entomology. 00: 1-11. Written by: Robert Childs Updated by: Tawny Simisky on 4/24/2020" Lily Leaf Beetle Biological Control Research

Do not like drought, (no other emoji to click but like), am glad you posted the map with legend. Hope the pattern shifts.