Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
CLINTON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — As if elm trees haven't had enough challenges with Dutch elm disease, a new pest is threatening the tree's survival.
It's a very pesky and hungry fly that feeds on the elm tree's leaves in a distinct zig-zag pattern, hence the name elm zig-zag sawfly.
A group of state surveyors were out Thursday along the banks of the Wachusett Reservoir looking to collect the fly to be used for research purposes. "They are really hard to see and hard to find," one surveyor said.
The fly was first found in North America in 2020 and was just discovered in western Massachusetts last year.
Nicole Keleher is the Forest Health Director for the Department of Conservation and Recreation. "They are small little flies," she said. "They are parthagenic which means it's an all-female population that reproduces asexually."
Arborists say the American Elm is an important tree species for the ecosystem in North America that has already been decimated by Dutch elm disease.
They worry another plague could wipe them out entirely.
WBZ NewsRadio's Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchafelWBZ) reports.
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