US saw 2,562 woodwasp interceptions (1952–2020); wood packaging was the main pathway

When a shipment arrives at a port, inspectors are usually focused on what's inside the containers. But sometimes, the biggest biosecurity risk isn't the cargo at all, it's the wooden pallet or crate carrying it.A new study published in Biological Invasions suggests that this has been the case for woodwasps, a group of wood-boring insects capable of spreading through international trade. After analysing decades of border inspection records from the United States, Canada and New Zealand, researchers found that wooden packaging materials were by far the most common pathway through which these insects crossed borders. The findings are based on one of the most comprehensive analyses of woodwasp interceptions to date, including 2,562 records collected by US inspectors between 1952 and 2020.The packaging, not the product, was often the problemThe research team examined a total of 3,054 woodwasp interception records from three countries to understand how these insects have moved around the world over time. The pattern was striking.In the United States, nearly 98% of interceptions recorded before changes in reporting practices were linked to wooden packaging materials such as pallets, crate...