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Has the emerald ash borer finally met its match?

In the latest attempt to halt the beetle in its bark tracks, scientists are introducing a non-stinging wasp to wage biological warfare against the nasty little critter that threatens to lay waste to entire forest canopies, one leafy ash tree at a time.

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Although scientists admit not much can be done to eradicate the evasive EAB in the short-term, the City of Montreal, in collaboration with the Canadian Forestry Service and United States Department of Agriculture, has unleashed a wasp known as tetrastichus planipennisi and a pathogenic insect fungi to slow the spread of the beetle locally.

Two wasp-release sites have been set up in Montreal at the Botanical Gardens and Bois-de-Liesse nature park.

“We are just adding another mortality factor to kill the EAB,” said Dr. Maryse Barrette, a research agent with the city’s integrated pest management team. “At the forest landscape level, it might be our best chance to control the EAB, at least reduce its population in woodlots in Montreal.”