Emerald Ash Borer (EAB)
What is the EAB?
Emerald Ash Borer, otherwise known as ‘EAB’, is an insect that has been most destructive to ash trees ever seen in the United States. The adult beetle feeds on ash foliage and causes minor damage, but the larvae does the most damage by feeding from early summer through fall beneath the bark and disrupts water and nutrient flow within the tree. This damage will lead to the death of the tree.
Since 2002, EAB has become a threatening pest to ash trees in North America and Canada. The adult beetles are approximately 1⁄2” long, shaped like a bullet, with a flattened metallic-green body and bronze colored head.
White larvae emerge from the eggs and bore just beneath the bark for 1-2 years creating winding tracks that disrupt the tree’s water and nutrient transportation system. Overtime this feeding by the larvae will cause bark splitting and dieback in the tree. After infestation in late May adults will emerge creating a D-shape exit hole in the bark, the females will find another unhealthy, or even a healthy ash tree to lay eggs and repeat the destructive process.
Is it a concern in our area?
Emerald Ash Borer has not been spotted and is not yet a threat in Marshall, Washington, Nemaha, Brown, Riley, or Pottawatomie county.
There have been sightings in Doniphan, Atchison, Jefferson, Douglas, Leavenworth, Shawnee, Johnson, and Wyandotte; all these counties are currently under quarantine to help slow the spread of EAB. However, in 2019, EAB was found in Jackson and Miami County and both are soon to go under quarantine as well, according to the Kansas Department of Agriculture.
What can I do to control it?
The best preventive method for homeowners is; do not move firewood from infected areas to non-infected areas. If you are not sure, just leave the wood where you found it.
Determine that the tree is actually an ash tree. If so, then you will need to know the following:
1). Is tree(s) located in a quarantined county or within 15 miles of a borer sighting?
2). Value: Does it provide shade? Does it aid in capturing runoff? Is it the only tree on the property? Did your great grandfather plant it?
3). Health: Does the tree’s canopy appear thin, wilted and brown? Does the bark seem loose? Is it safe from eminent damage, or can it be a concern for hazard?
4). Make sure the following causes for infestation do not exist. Stress caused by drought, nutritional deficiencies, wounding, root compaction and poor food supply.
5). Monitor your tree: if you are seeing branch die back in the upper canopy of your tree, splitting bark, suckers growing on the trunk, or anything abnormal, it would be a good decision to contact an arborist, such as, Outdoor Visions, right away to evaluate your tree.
If you would like to prevent losing your ash tree(s) feel free to call Outdoor Visions at 785-562-7022.