The spread of viburnum leaf beetle (Pyrrhalta viburni) continues at a rapid pace. The beetle was found this past year in Tioga County as well as in Erie County, PA and Chittenden County, VT (click for map of NY distribution). One interesting development was the near-absence of adults in the Rochester area in 2000; this was very surprising because larvae were present in large numbers in the spring. One likely scenario is that the insects were killed by a soil-dwelling pathogen or nematode in the late larval or pupal stage. The larvae crawl into the soil to pupate, and high soil moisture at the time of this transition may have favored growth of a soilborne pathogen. We will be investigating this possibility further during the coming year. In laboratory trials, we found a common soil nematode to be very effective in parasitizing late instar larvae as they crawled into the soil to pupate.