CHICAGO (AP) -- A Chicago suburb's a testing ground for a new weapon to combat green beetles that have already killed millions of ash trees in North America.
The weapon is a tiny specialized wasp. And the target is the emerald ash borer or, rather, ash borer eggs and larvae.
Forest officials intend to release the parasitic wasps in Evanston this week to see if they're effective in culling the ash borer population.
The seed-sized wasps use ash borer eggs and larvae as food for their own eggs. They're natural enemies of ash borers in their native China.
An Evanston forestry official, Paul D'Agostino, says the federally funded effort puts Evanston in the forefront of the fight to stop the spread of ash borers.
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