Salix babylonica a gold-yellow in autumn. The flowers are arranged in catkins produced early in the spring; it is dioecious, with the male and female catkins on separate trees. "Salix babylonica" was described and named scientifically by Carolus Linnaeus in 1736, who knew the species as the pendulous-branched ("weeping") variant then recently introduced into the Clifford garden in Hartekamp in The Netherlands. Early Chinese cultivar selections include the original weeping willow, "Salix babylonica" 'Pendula', in which the branches and twigs are strongly pendulous, which was presumably spread along ancient trade routes. These distinctive trees were subsequently introduced into England from Aleppo in
Spathius agrili only attracted to select species of "Fraxinus" and to "Salix babylonica". In natural settings, "S. agrili" will be unlikely to encounter and parasitize non-target larvae as it does not search other tree species. This, in addition to other tests of host specificity, led to approval of the wasp for controlled releases in specific study sites in the United States for further research. Spathius agrili Spathius agrili is a parasitic non-stinging wasp of family Braconidae which is native to North Asia. It is a parasitoid of the emerald ash borer ("Agrilus planipennis" Fairmaire), an invasive species which has destroyed tens of