Student's beetle-busting research at Vergelegen Estate

• Published date: 26 November 2020
• Date: 26 November 2020
• Publication title: Southern Suburbs Tatler

The good news, however, is that research at Vergelegen Estate could help defeat this dreaded pest.

The polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB) beetle comes from Southeast Asia and was first discovered in South Africa in 2017.

The female beetle infests trees with a fungus (they feed on this fungus, not the wood), and the fungus eventually kills the trees.

It has already caused devastation in gardens, parks and urban forests. Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Hartbeesfontein, Bloemfontein, Ekhurhuleni, Jankempdorp, Sandton and Sedgefield are among the hardest hit areas.

The beetle has been recorded in all provinces except Limpopo and the list of infected trees is ever-expanding. Some of the most susceptible trees are American sweetgum, Japanese maple, Chinese maple, box elder and English oak.

Alarmingly, the PSHB beetle is also penetrating into the indigenous forests of Durban, Knysna and George.

On a more positive note, scientists have the beetle in their sights. One is Heather Nependa from the Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology in the Faculty of AgriScience at Stellenbosch University.

She is undertaking research on the pest for her doctoral thesis.

Ms Nependa's research site is 320-year-old Vergelegen wine estate in Somerset West, which has pioneered agricultural...