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The ESA Governing Board voted unanimously last week to approve the addition of "spongy moth" to ESA's Common Names of Insects and Related Organisms List, completing a process started in July 2021 when the previous name, "gypsy moth," was removed due to its use of a derogatory term for the Romani people. Translation of the French name is based on the destructive forest pest's sponge-like egg masses.

The Entomological Society of America has adopted "northern giant hornet" for the species Vespa mandarinia in its Common Names of Insects and Related Organisms List. Vespa mandarinia is an invasive hornet native to Asia that has been the target of eradication efforts in Washington state, USA, and British Columbia, Canada, after individual hornets were first discovered there in 2019. It has been referred to elsewhere as "Asian giant hornet" or "murder hornet."

An interactive story map of the USDA's history of eradicating the infestation and the continuing efforts to keep screwworm out of the U.S.
See related resource: Data Visualization Tools to explore plant and animal health management data and interactive story maps

In the Mexican state of Colima, a recent outbreak of the Mediterranean fruit fly, also known as medfly, was very bad news. This voracious pest was eradicated in Mexico in the 1980s with the help of FAO and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but insects know no borders. And unfortunately, with climate change, increase of trade and global travel favouring the spread of pests, they have once more found their way into this horticulturally important state, threatening to wreak havoc on the industry and on the livelihoods of farmers. Thankfully, Mexico, FAO and the IAEA had prepared for just a scenario.

Recently, the health of coconut palms has come under severe threat. The Pacific Community (SPC), working with Pacific Island countries and territories, and development partners, is looking for ways to meet this threat before it devastates the hopes of economic progress in the region. In August of 2017 an alert was issued identifying a new danger to the Pacific, which is causing devastation to coconut palms and expanding rapidly across the region. The new threat comes from a longstanding adversary in the region: the rhinoceros beetle.

Three Tennessee counties have been quarantined for Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) after detection of the forest-devastating insect, bringing the total number of Tennessee counties under a state and federal EAB quarantine to 62. Cheatham, Giles, and Maury counties have been added to the list of areas restricted for the movement of firewood, ash nursery stock, ash timber, and other material that can spread EAB. The tree-killing beetle was recently found in these three counties through the United States Department of Agriculture’s EAB detection program.

Note: In 2021, TDA repealed the existing Emerald Ash Borer, Pine Beetle, and Thousand Cankers Disease Quarantines. See current quarantine information.

Bulletin 1290

See also: Information Bulletins on other vectors/pests

Humans adores trees. But humans also migrate and trade, habits that led to the accidental introduction of insects and diseases that harm trees and alter the landscape. Examples are easy to find and may be outside your front door: American elms that once dotted streets across America succumbed to Dutch elm disease. Now all colors of ash species – black, green, white, pumpkin, and blue – are threatened by emerald ash borer. The already uncommon butternut tree, also known as white walnut, faces the possibility of extinction from a mysterious attacker. Many invasive insects and fungi come from regions where native trees have evolved to resist their attacks. When these species enter the United States, they find trees that lack this resistance. There's no immediate end to this dismal pipeline, but there is hope on the horizon.

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are tracking a honey bee killer, and their investigations have taken them from hives in Tucson, Arizona, to Bismarck, North Dakota. Led by ARS entomologist Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman, the team is staking out hive entrances and monitoring the comings and goings of foraging honey bees, which may be the killer's unwitting accomplices. None of the busy little winged bearers of pollen and nectar will get by without inspection: The prime suspect—an eight-legged, pinhead-sized parasite called the Varroa mite—seems to be sneaking into the hives on the bees' bodies. The Varroa mite, Varroa destructor, is considered public enemy number one to honey bees nationwide. The parasite feeds on the blood of adult bees and their brood, weakening them and endangering the entire hive when infestations become severe. But the mite also poses an indirect threat to more than 90 flowering crops that depend on bee pollination, including almonds, apples, blueberries, cherries, and cantaloupes.

Emerald ash borer (EAB) is an invasive insect from Asia that kills ash trees. EAB was first detected in North America in 2002. Several tiny wasp species are helping to control EAB.