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...we have recently discovered at the Santa Clara River a stem-boring wasp that turns out to be the very same species, Tetramesa romana... |
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We have been studying these relationships over the past year through a grant from the Santa Clara River Trustee Council, coordinated by Dr. Adam Lambert, a post-doctoral researcher with UCSB’s Marine Science Institute and overseen by Denise Steurer of the Ventura field office of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Besides the ecological and mapping information being developed, we have recently discovered at the Santa Clara River a stem-boring wasp that turns out to be the very same species, Tetramesa romana, that USDA is working with in its quarantine programs to see if it is suitable for introduction!
We now have an excellent opportunity to learn more about the biology of this insect and under conditions much more realistic than can be simulated in the quarantine lab. In California, T. romana has so far only been found from southern Santa Barbara to San Diego County, and does not appear to be present in many other Arundo stands statewide. Field studies will continue to verify its distribution.
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| Several photos showing the stem-boring wasp, Tetramesa romana, and its damage to Arundo stems. |
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