The primary purpose of this agreement is to support rearing of several invasive species that are used in projects to safeguard nursery production, test fumigation options, support molecular…

The primary purpose of this agreement is to support rearing of several invasive species that are used in projects to safeguard nursery production, test fumigation options, support molecular diagnostics, aid detector DOG training, and for outreach displays used for early detection training. Activities to be performed: the recipient will provide one technician who will rear two colonies of box tree moth: one colony using plant material to support biological control studies and one colony reared using diet which will support all other studies. The technician will rear a robust colony of european grapevine moth (egvm) and provide insects for testing and treatment as needed. They will maintain quality control metrics for the egvm colony to ensure high quality insects continue to be produced. They will also assist with asian longhorned beetle (ALB) and spongy moth (SM) rearing and supply high quality insects for various ongoing research projects. The principal investigator will, in cooperation with the aphis project manager, provide a detailed project work plan, supervise the technician, purchase supplies, and write reports. Deliverables and expected outcomes: the goal of the award is 1) to provide a reliable supply of BTM life stages to support biocontrol research and other integrated pest management studies, 2) to produce ALB life stages to support research and outreach and, 3) to produce spongy moth life stages to support research and production of riker mounts for early detection training. The expected outcome will be several robust high-quality colonies of i nsects with adequate numbers of experimental insects provided for research. Intended beneficiary(IES): the primary beneficiaries of this agreement are the U.S. Nursery industry in 44 states that produce box trees, scientist within science and technology that conduct integrated pest management research, detector DOG training programs and stakeholders that use invasive species riker mounts for identification training.