North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Alan Haigh <alandhaigh@gmail.com>]

I'm not sure having only one generation annually up north will help with
BMSB as they can feed on fruit for as long as they live.  Maple trees and
other forest species are co-hosts and these bugs can only be killed by
direct insecticide contact to their bodies.  When feeding they barely touch
the fruit and they penetrate the skin to do their damage.  Once you kill the
ones from a spray others come quickly from nearby trees to take their place
and are unaffected by the poison already on the fruit.

I have a feeling that the process of allowing parasitic viruses from Asia
that kill BMSB to be released will be streamlined.  These monsters have
already spread through much of the country, as far south as Tennessee, north
to CT and west to Oregon.  If they behave as they are in the areas of their
original infestation this will be a national emergency.