Officials enlist mountain residents to battle goldspotted oak borer

Cal Fire, UC Cooperative Extension and other officials will be meeting with residents of Idyllwild tomorrow to enlist their help in stopping the goldspotted oak borers' tree destruction in the picturesque mountain community, reported the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

GSOB appears to have spread to Idyllwild by hitchhiking on firewood from San Diego, where it has killed some 80,000 oak trees. It has been found in only one tree in Idyllwild so far.

Tom Scott, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Environmental Sciences at UC Riverside, and Kevin Turner, UCCE goldspotted oak borer program coordinator, will be among the speakers.

Meanwhile, ABC Eyewitness News in Los Angeles interviewed UC Riverside entomologist Vanessa Lopez about an effort to bring in GSOB predators to California from Arizona.

"What we're hoping to do is go to Arizona and find those insects that are specialized to only feed on goldspotted oak borer and they're efficient at controlling the population," Lopez said.

Small size but big destruction, the goldspotted oak borer. (Photo: UC Riverside)

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