Invasive Pests

A reminder to watch out for invasive pests and signs of disease that threaten plants, whether it's your backyard or ornamentals, or field crops. What Van Pichler of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service calls hungry pests. Speaker1: Hungry pests are highly damaging to our native species and we can unknowingly spread them. They're well known as being hitchhikers. Speaker1: April is invasive plant pest and Disease Awareness Month and the time of year more people go outside. Pichler says resources are available to help us find signs of invasive pest and disease, such as hungrypests.com Speaker2: We really don't want to be moving them because they cost the United States an estimated $40 billion a year in damages. Speaker1: Local Cooperative Extension offices and state departments of Agriculture also have information on various invasive plant pests and disease that pose a threat for their area abroad. Speaker2: Some unusual signs of what to be looking out for. V-shaped holes in trees, yellow, thin,or wilted leaves. Shoots growing from roots or tree trunks and unusual woodpecker activity. These signs could be for emerald ash borer infestation. Other signs are round depressions or holes in trees, yellow or drooping leaves and sawdust like material. These signs could be for Asian longhorned beetle. So if you're finding these signs, please go on to hungry pests and report what you see. Take a picture. Let us know where you found the plant or the tree that's infested and your contact information.