Emerald+Ash+Borer

The Emerald Ash Borer is a type of beetle that is a dark green color, half an inch long and one eighth thick. When the bug infests the tree the canopy begins to thin above infested portions of the trunk and major branches. The bug destroys the water and nutrient conducting tissues under the bark of the tree. Heavily infested trees exhibit canopy die-back usually starting at the top of the tree. One-third to one-half of the branches may die in one year. Most of the canopy will be dead within 2 years. In some cases ash trees push out sprouts from the trunk after the upper portions of the tree dies. Although difficult to see, the adult beetles leave a "D"-shaped hole in the bark after leaving, roughly 1/8 inch in diameter. The beetles leave the infested sometime in June. This bug, in North America, has only affected ash trees. This bug was first found in Michigan but has now spread to Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Ontario and Quebec. The Emerald Ash Bug has previously been found in Japan, Russia, China and Korea. It had never been found in North America until 2002. The Emerald Ash borer is spread when people move firewood from one place to another. The bugs can also fly from the tree where they live to another tree up to a mile away. The website specifically dedicated to the Emerald Ash Borer cautions people to NOT MOVE ASH FIREWOOD OR LOGS OUTSIDE OF THE QUARANTINED AREA. There are some treatments for the infected Ash trees but most of the time the infected trees are cut down and replaced.