Monday, September 28, 2015

Look at what we found...

We were out surveying a hemlock site in the Black Mountains of North Carolina last week and found these amazing little creatures on a small beech tree.





I would like to introduce all of you to the woolly beech aphid, Phyllaphis fagi.


 



Wednesday, September 23, 2015

New Documentary...

The Cradle of Forestry in America Interpretive Association has recently announced that a new documentary entitled First in Forestry: Carl Schenck and the Biltmore Forest School is premiering this weekend right on the hallowed grounds where Dr. Schenck first plied his trade in America, the Biltmore Estate.  Dr. Carl Schenck was a German forester who came to America during the 1890's and established our first forestry school.



The 1-hour film was produced by Asheville's own Bonesteel films on behalf of the Forest History Society.  Tickets for the premiere can be purchased through the First in Forestry website and proceeds will go toward promoting the film on UNC-TV.  Based on the trailer, this looks to be a high-quality, informative romp through the woods.  And the actor portraying Dr. Schenck has a fantastic mustache! 


Monday, September 14, 2015

Sirex trapping survey

Our latest project involves an effort to collect native woodwasps of the family Siricidae.  These are members of the insect order Hymenoptera, which includes ants and bees along with wasps.  The impetus behind this project is the presence of yet another introduced invasive pest, Sirex noctilio,  also called the Eurasian woodwasp.

 A recently thinned white pine stand at Dupont S.F. where some of our traps are located.

Native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, the Eurasian woodwasp has been introduced to the U.S. in portions of New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Vermont and in Ontario, Canada.  This pest was previously introduced in the Southern Hemisphere, where it causes significant problems for tree farmers.  Research suggests that our extensive southern pine forests could be at risk if the insect were ever introduced here.  Our trapping survey will help inform what native siricids and associated competitors and/or enemies already exist in some of our pine stands.  We hope to detect the invasive woodwasp if it has indeed been introduced.

 White pines can be relatively tall, so we have quite a few 3' lengths to stack. Photo by B. Mayfield.

 We are constructing our traps by cutting down a small (6" to 10" dia.), live white pine, cutting the main stem into 3-foot lengths, then building a "Lincoln log" stack.  Not necessarily in honor of our 16th President, rather because woodwasps are attracted to the volatiles emitted from freshly cut trees.  We pull the top of the tree next to the stack for added fragrance.


One of the traps at our Cold Mountain, NC site.

In order to get an idea of what insects are getting into our wood stack, we are hanging black funnel traps above the stack.  By the end of October, we plan on having 8 traps constructed at each of two sites in North Carolina and at one site in Northern Georgia.

 And having never identified Siricids before this experiment, I have a lot of reading to do...

Thank you Jim Meeker down in Pineville, LA for this exciting read!