Asian Longhorned beetle (ALB) was named one of the top 100 worst invasive species and threatens 35% of all trees in the urban eastern United States (Global Invasive Species Database, 2020). In May 2020, the first and southernmost observation of ALB was made in Hollywood, South Carolina. Current eradication efforts are dominated by tree removal in heavily infested areas (APHIS, 2011). In ecosystems with rugged, flooded terrain, or otherwise inaccessible and vulnerable forests, tree removal is a costly and environmentally damaging endeavor that cannot alone control or seek to eradicate the population to prevent further spread. In these cases, biological control may be an economically and ecologically advantageous management strategy in the ongoing efforts to eradicate ALB (Coyle et al. 2021). Ontsira mellipes, a native braconid parasitoid, is the most commonly emerging parasitoid across various hardwood species with cerambycid infestations and exhibited no host preference when compared with native cerambycids in North America (Golec et al. 2020, Wang et al. 2019) Two methods will be used to determine rates of parasitization from native parasitoids on ALB larvae: sentinel log collections, and infested material collections. Sentinel log trials will be conducted at consistent locations using weighed larvae. Infested woody material will be collected from infested sites with varying degrees of infestation.
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