Control treatments will start the week of April 19, weather permitting, within portions of the city of Worcester, as well as portions of the towns of Holden, West Boylston, Boylston and Shrewsbury. Program officials, through the use of contracted certified pesticide applicators, will treat ALB host trees by using hand-held application devices, which inject the insecticide directly into the trunk of the tree, allowing the imidacloprid to be dispersed through the tree’s vascular system. The insecticide reaches any adult ALB in the area feeding on small twigs and leaves, and any larvae feeding just beneath the bark of treated host trees.
Approved for ALB program use, Imidacloprid has proven to reduce beetle populations in research completed in the United States and China. It is currently used in the New York ALB eradication program and has been used as part of the ALB eradication activities in New Jersey and Illinois.
To read more about the Massachusetts program, go here.
Photo courtesy of Michael Bohne.