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14 CapitalPress.com October 30, 2015 Stink bug may meet its match in tiny wasp By DAN WHEAT Capital Press WENATCHEE, Wash. — Scientists hope the discov- ery of the spread of a natural predator may help control the brown marmorated stink bug. Trissoicus japonicus, a non-stinging Asian wasp, was found Aug. 14 and again Sept. 23 in a trap in a public park in Vancouver, Wash. The trap was part of an ef- fort by the Washington State University Tree Fruit Re- search and Extension Center in Wenatchee to find natural combatants to the brown mar- morated stink bug. Josh Milnes, a field techni- cian in Vancouver for the cen- ter, found two small clusters of the wasps. They were ver- ified by USDA research en- tomologist Elijah Talamas in Washington, D.C., said Eliza- beth Beers, WSUTFREC en- tomologist in Wenatchee and Milnes’ supervisor. Beers is part of a nation- wide team of 52 scientists from 10 institutions working to control the stink bug. “We did not expect to find Elijah Talamas/USDA ARS A Trissolcus japonicus wasp emerges from a brown marmorated stink bug egg. Scientists hope the wasp will help control the stink bug in the U.S. this wasp here and are very excited. In the insect world, we struck it rich,” Beers said. Since 2007, USDA has been studying T. japonicus in quarantine laboratories to de- termine if it can be released to destroy the brown mar- morated stink bug, also from Asia, without harming native stink bug species beneficial to crops. Tracy Leskey, USDA ento- mologist in West Virginia and leader of the national stink bug team, said the discovery may be a biological-control game-changer. T. japonicus wasp clusters have been found in Maryland and Virginia in the past two years and the fact that they’ve shown up 3,000 miles away in Washington state shows the wasp is deploying for attack, Leskey said. The discovery also sug- gests the wasp was acciden- tally brought to the United States multiple times, much like the stink bug, she said. The stink bug has caused millions of dollars in dam- age to fruit orchards in the Mid-Atlantic region since it was discovered in Pennsylva- nia less than two decades ago. It was discovered in Portland, Ore., in 2004 and is becoming a problem in berries, vine- yards and other crops in the Willamette Valley. It was found in Yakima, Wash., in 2012 and is feared for its potential destruction of apples, pears and cherries. WSU scientists have been alarmed because only broad-spectrum pesticides have worked against the stink bug. Those pesticides also disrupt Integrated Pest Man- agement programs of biolog- ical control. The T. japonicus wasps found by Milnes were de- stroying brown marmorated stink bug eggs, Beers said. The female T. japonicus wasps, no bigger than a typed comma, lay eggs inside clus- ters of stink bug eggs. After a wasp egg hatches, the larva eats the stink bug egg host, “killing it in the process and then bursting out as an adult wasp,” Beers said. T. japonicus has not erad- icated the brown marmorated stink bug in Asia but appears to be one of the more effective parasitoids, Beers said. “What we can hope for is that it will keep the ambient population of brown mar- morated stink bug down so we won’t have the huge buildup like we’ve seen on the East Coast,” she said. Kim Hoelmer, a USDA research entomologist study- ing T. japonicus in a quaran- tine lab in Delaware, said lab research will continue and scientists will monitor the wasp’s natural spread. “We don’t want to intro- duce a non-native wasp that kills native stink bugs bene- ficial to our crops,” he said. “So far, however, the research looks promising that this tiny prizefighter favors the brown marmorated variety.” Some farmers upset that hydroponic crops carry organic label By WILSON RING Associated Press STOWE, Vt. — Some or- ganic crop farmers don’t want crops raised sans soil in hydro- ponic greenhouses to carry the “organic” label, and to make their point, they dumped a pile of compost in a parking lot Monday where a federal advi- sory board dedicated to the or- ganic community was meeting. A handful of tractors circled the lot and about 50 protesters carried signs that oppose fed- eral rules that allow some pro- duce grown without soil to be labeled as organic. But others said the designa- tion as organic shouldn’t have AP Photo/Wilson Ring A tractor driver participates in a protest in Stowe, Vt. on Oct. 26 by opponents of federal rules that allow crops raised in hydroponic systems to be labeled organic. The protesters claim that crops must be raised in soil to be labeled organic. anything to do with where the crops are grown. The National Organic Standards Board is meeting in Kathy McKenzie’s world was turned upside down when she heard the daunting words “you have breast cancer”. Like many others, Kathy entered her doctor’s office, where she received a mammogram per the recommendations of her physician and the American Cancer Society. Once home, Kathy received a call asking her to come back for additional testing. At the time digital x-rays were becoming more common, and the nurse explained it was not unusual for patients to be called back in with the new, more advanced technology. She returned for a biopsy and was later diagnosed with triple negative stage 1 breast cancer; a variation of the disease that can be extremely difficult to treat and overcome if not diagnosed early. Luckily, they detected the cancer at its earliest, most treatable stage. Soon after diagnosis, Kathy was able to begin treatment, undergoing four months of chemotherapy. During those four months, every day Kathy had a treatment appointment, she was greeted with a gift from an anonymous friend. Some days she would go in for treatment and receive a small lotion with a card, other days a small toy. There was always something there to make her smile. It wasn’t until after she had finished treatment that she discovered who had been leaving her gifts. Kathy works as a hygienist within a local dentist’s office, and upon hearing the news that she was undergoing breast cancer treatments, one of her patients decided to brighten her appointment days with an ongoing act of kindness. Extremely touched by the hope and happiness these gifts had given her during a time of such hardship, Kathy decided to pay forward the gesture, and began looking for ways to give back to other women facing breast cancer. It was important to her to not only give back through providing those same comforting gifts, but to also make a difference by helping them navigate their cancer diagnosis. Kathy began volunteering for the American Cancer Society’s Reach to Recovery Stowe this week. “Organic farming of terres- trial plants needs to happen in the soil,” said Dave Chapman, of Long Wind Farm in East Thetford, who helped organize the protest. “It’s a basic prin- ciple of organic farming that you feed the soil, not the plant, that you cultivate the life in the soil.” Chapman said he believes hydroponic agriculture has its place, but not with the label or- ganic. Proponents of the prac- tice say the label “organic” is something that should refer to the nutrients that are used to grow the crops, not where they are grown. To grow something hydroponically, sand, gravel or water is used, instead of soil. Nutrients are added in. “The science and the pro- cesses are exactly the same. There are a lot of people who have a religious belief, almost, around soil,” said Colin Ar- chipley who, with his wife Karen, runs an organic farm outside San Diego with some of their crops being grown hy- droponically. Philip LaRocca, an organic winemaker from Forest Ranch, California, said hydroponic farmers work as hard and as dil- igently as farmers who farm in soil. “As long as they follow or- ganic systems, organic plans, not using any synthetic materi- als,” he said, “why not certify them organic?” There’s a competition to it all, too, said Chapman. Crops can be grown more efficiently and cheaper in hydroponic sys- tems. Archipley said it helps make organic food available to more people. He said many who ad- vocate for dropping the organ- ic label from hydroponically grown crops are really worried about losing market share. The National Organic Stan- dards Board is a volunteer group that makes recommendations on organic agriculture policy issues to the U.S. Department of Agri- culture. program, and was able to provide that same comfort to the women she mentored. Reach to Recovery is designed to help women cope specifically with their breast cancer diagnosis and experience. The program provides information and support to those facing breast cancer through one-on-one contact with trained American Cancer Society volunteers. Often times it is difficult for someone facing a diagnosis to see that there is a life after cancer and being paired with someone who knows firsthand what they are going through, helps remind them. The Reach to Recovery program is made possible by funds raised through the Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer events. “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks give us a real opportunity to make a dramatic difference in the battle to end breast cancer. Silence won’t finish this fight, but our action will”, states Neah Jackson, American Cancer Society event manager. “We want every person, in every community to join us, bring their friends and family, take action and help us to finish the fight against breast cancer!” Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is the largest network of breast cancer awareness events in the nation, uniting more than 300 communities — to finish the fight. Each event is an incredible and inspiring opportunity to honor those who have battled breast cancer, raise awareness about what can be done to reduce the risk of breast cancer, and raise money to help the American Cancer Society fight the disease with research, information, patient services, and access to mammograms for women who need them. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, other than skin cancer, and is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer. This year, more than 231,000 women nationwide will be diagnosed with breast cancer- that is 231,000 too many to have to face such a horrible disease. The chance of a woman having invasive breast cancer some time during her life is about 1 in 8. The chance of dying from breast cancer is about 1 in 36, however breast cancer death rates have declined, with the increase finding breast cancer earlier and better treatment options. Today, the American Cancer Society celebrates the more than 2.9 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. If you have a passion for finishing the fight against the disease, we invite you to join us for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. Visit MakingStridesWalk.org for more information! Call Classifieds for Sponsorship Information: 800-882-6789 44-2/#13