For Ash-Dependent Insects, Some Plants Make Good Alternatives—But Others Don't - Entomology Today

A new study shows landscape managers that choosing the right replacements for ash is critical for such ash-reliant native insects, such as Ceratomia undulosa, shown here.

Since then, landscape managers, horticulturalists, and entomologists have been looking at alternative plants to support species of Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) that have evolved to depend on the ash.

The study was led by Grace Horne, as part of her undergraduate thesis at Colby College in Maine, in collaboration with researchers at The Caterpillar Lab in New Hampshire and the Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Virginia.

A new study shows landscape managers that choosing the right replacements for ash is critical for such ash-reliant native insects, such as Sphinx kalmiae, shown here.

Sphinx kalmiae is one of the three ash-specialist moth species included in the study, shown here on privet ( Ligustrum vulgare) under ultraviolet light during a field survey.

The study underscored the need to continue preserving ash trees but also to remove privet, all in order to support ash-dependent lepidopterans.