USDA RESEARCH MAY COMBAT INVASIVE PESTS 
                                              Release No. 0028.00

              Media contact: Mary Beth Schultheis, (202) 720-4623
                                    mary_beth.schultheis@usda.gov
                      Public contact: Maria Bynum, (202) 720-5192
                                             maria.bynum@usda.gov

USDA RESEARCH MAY COMBAT INVASIVE PESTS

      WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2000-- Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today
announced new research to control three destructive invasive species: kudzu, a
non-native invasive weed; the Formosan termite, a tiny ravenous pest; and the
Asian long-horned beetle, a tree-killing pest.

      "This new research promises to help minimize the economic, ecological,
and the human health impacts of invasive species and determine further steps to
prevent the introduction and spread of invasive species," said Glickman, co-
chair of the National Invasive Species Council. 
   
      USDA scientists have found a fungus that's highly effective at knocking
out kudzu in field locations where the weed grows uncontrollably.   In
greenhouse and field studies over two years, the fungus Myrothecium verrucaria,
from the sicklepod plant found in the southeastern U.S.,  killed 100 percent of
kudzu weeds.

      This unattractive weed has crept over more than 7 million acres in the
U.S., with control costs escalating nearly $6 million annually.  This research
was done in collaboration with Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, La.  A joint
patent will be pursued. 

      Meanwhile, a new weapon against the Asian long-horned beetle is slated
for testing this year.   USDA scientists are planning to conduct field tests
this spring to determine whether a soil or tree-injected insecticide will stop
the spread of the Asian long-horned beetle.  The insect, native to China, bores
into healthy hardwood trees, leading to their destruction.

      To fight this invasive species, agriculture officials have been forced to
remove more than 4,300 trees in and around New York City and more than 1,200
trees in the Chicago area.  Officials are optimistic these field tests will
provide an alternative to tree removal in the battle against this pest.

      This summer, USDA researchers will field test a Formosan termite control
project.  Baits laced with spores of naturally occurring fungi may help dampen
the Formosan termite's appetite for destruction.  The  Australian strain of
Metarhizium fungus is one of the candidates to be tested in a new termite bait
made of material more palatable to the Formosan termites in a variety of
commercial mediums. 
      
      In lab trials, up to 100 percent of Formosan termites died two days after
exposure to millions of the fungus spores. The baits are central to an area-
wide termite control project planned for Mississippi's Gulf Coast.  These
termites cost an estimated $1 billion a year in property damage, repair and
control costs.
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CONTACT FOR DETAILS: On kudzu research, C. Douglas Boyette, USDA-ARS Southern
Weed Science Research Unit, Stoneville, Miss., phone (601) 686-5217, fax (601)
686-5422, e-mail dboyette@ag.gov; on Asian long-horned beetle, Ron Milberg,
operations officer, PPQ, APHIS, phone (301) 734-5255; and on Formosan termite
research, Maureen Wright, USDA-ARS Formosan Subterranean Termite Research Unit,
New Orleans, La., phone  (504) 286-4294, fax (504) 286-4419, e-mail:
mwright@nola.srrc.usda.gov