The Times Argus reports that forest managers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states plan to monitor ground-nesting wasps in order to track the spread of the emerald ash borer, a wood-boring beetle that has killed more than 25 million ash trees in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states since 2002 and continues spreading toward the Northeast. The wasps feed on beetles, and by monitoring which beetles the wasps carry home, foresters hope they will be able to detect emerald ash borer infestations more quickly than by current methods, which [can] take up to three years."

"Currently, foresters looking for the boring beetle often have to kill trees to try to save a forest. One method involves stripping bark off ash trees, which is costly, time-consuming and kills the tree. A newer method involves deploying purple prism traps high in tree canopies. It is [also] costly and time consuming, but spares the tree." Forest managers explain that the "the wasp method is simpler and cheaper and does not harm trees." In addition, the wasps will not have to be imported because they "live in a wide area of the United States, from Canada to Mexico and as far west as the Rockies."

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