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Emerald Ash Borer enters Iowa

This joint press release (May 14, 2010) from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and Iowa Department of Natural Resources conveys the bad news:

EMERALD ASH BORER FOUND IN IOWA ALONG BANKS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
Invasive Pest Kills Ash Trees, Iowans Asked to Not Move Firewood

DES MOINES – The Iowa Emerald Ash Borer Team confirmed today that the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), an invasive pest that kills ash trees, has been found in Iowa along the Mississippi River two miles south of the Minnesota border in Allamakee County. The land is owned and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

This is the first confirmed EAB infestation in Iowa.

Four EAB larvae were found in one ash tree by members of Iowa’s EAB team during a survey of the area following the recent announcement that the beetle had been found just across the Minnesota border. An infestation in nearby Victory, Wisconsin was discovered in 2009.

A quarantine prohibiting the movement of firewood, ash nursery stock, ash timber, or any other article that could further spread EAB is pending from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. A federal quarantine would follow the state quarantine.

Iowa State University Extension will issue a separate news release providing EAB management recommendations for homeowners.

This detection of EAB in Iowa was the result of collaborative effort that has been looking for this pest since 2003. Detection efforts have included visual surveys, sentinel trees, trap surveys, nursery stock inspections, sawmill/wood processing site visits, and hundreds of educational programs.

This year EAB team members are in the process of placing 1800 purple traps at high-risk areas in the state, including in a 1.5 mile grid along the Mississippi River. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources also has 412 trap trees in the state this year, 12 of which are in Allamakee County.

The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is native to eastern Asia, and was detected in the United States near Detroit, Michigan in 2002. EAB kills all ash (Fraxinus) species by larval burrowing under the bark and eating the actively growing layers.

The metallic-green adult beetles are a half inch long, and are active from late-May to early-August in Iowa. Signs of EAB infestation include one-eighth inch D-shaped exit holes in ash tree bark and serpentine tunnels packed with sawdust under the bark. Tree symptoms of an infestation include crown thinning and dieback when first noticed, epicormic sprouting as insect damage progresses, and woodpecker feeding.

EAB has killed ash trees of various sizes in neighborhoods and woodlands throughout the Midwest. Ash is one of the most abundant native tree species in North America, and has been heavily planted as a landscape tree in yards and other urban areas. According to recent sources, Iowa has an estimated 58 million rural ash trees and approximately 30 million more ash trees in urban areas.

The Iowa Emerald Ash Borer Team includes officials from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa State University Extension, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the USDA Forest Service.

The movement of firewood throughout Iowa and to other states poses the greatest threat to quickly spread EAB even further. Areas currently infested are under federal and state quarantines, but unknowing campers or others who transport firewood can spark an outbreak. As a result, officials are asking Iowans to not move firewood and instead buy wood where they are staying and burn it completely.

To learn more about EAB please visit the following websites:
http://www.iowatreepests.com/
http://www.iowadnr.gov/forestry/eab/index.html
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/PME/EmeraldAshBorer.html

Contributed by John Pearson on 14 May, 2010 - 11:07am

Iowa update July 2013 #2

New joint press release by Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach

EMERALD ASH BORER CONFIRMED IN JEFFERSON COUNTY, IOWA
New Infestation Discovered in Fairfield

DES MOINES – Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has been positively identified in a residential tree in the city of Fairfield in Jefferson County, making this the third location where the invasive beetle has been found in Iowa. Allamakee County was declared infested in May 2010 and Des Moines County in July 2013.

EAB kills all ash species and is considered to be one of the most destructive tree pests ever seen in North America.

With this new find close to the Des Moines County infestation, State Entomologist Robin Pruisner said the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), along with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), will be issuing a multicounty quarantine in southeast Iowa in the near future. This regulatory action restricts movement of hardwood firewood, ash logs and wood chips out of the quarantined counties.

Pruisner said all Iowans are strongly cautioned not to transport firewood across county or state lines, since the movement of firewood throughout Iowa or to other states poses the greatest threat to quickly spread EAB even further. Most EAB infestations in the United States have been started by people unknowingly moving infested firewood, nursery plants or sawmill logs. The adult beetle also can fly short distances, approximately 2 to 5 miles.

The current EAB infestation was found as a result of survey efforts by the Iowa EAB Team. This team includes officials from IDALS, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service and the USDA Forest Service.

“Preventive treatments next spring — mid-April to mid-May 2014 — are suggested to protect vigorously healthy and valuable ash trees within 15 miles of the known infested area,” said ISU Extension and Outreach Entomologist Mark Shour. For more details, see ISU Extension and Outreach publication PM2084, www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM2084.pdf.

Ash is one of the most abundant native tree species in North America, and has been heavily planted as a landscape tree in yards and other urban areas. According to the USDA Forest Service, Iowa has an estimated 52 million rural ash trees and approximately 3.1 million more ash trees in urban areas. It is unknown how many public and residential ash trees are located in Fairfield.

… John Pearson, 1 August, 2013 - 10:15am

Iowa update July 2013

Joint press release by Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and Iowa State University Extension regarding new infestation in southeast Iowa (previous infestation is in northeast Iowa):

EMERALD ASH BORER CONFIRMED IN DES MOINES COUNTY, IOWA
New Infestation Discovered in Burlington

DES MOINES – Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has been positively identified in a residential tree in the city of Burlington in Des Moines County, making this the second location where the invasive beetle has been found in Iowa. It initially had been found on Henderson Island in the Mississippi River in Allamakee County in 2010.

EAB kills all ash species by larval burrowing under the bark and eating the actively growing layers of the trees. EAB is now considered to be one of the most destructive forest pests ever seen in North America.

State Entomologist Robin Pruisner said the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, along with USDA, will be issuing a quarantine for Des Moines County in the near future. A quarantine by state and U.S. agriculture departments means that hardwood firewood, ash logs and wood chips cannot be moved out of the area without a permit.

Pruisner said all Iowans are strongly cautioned not to transport firewood across county or state lines, since the movement of firewood throughout Iowa or to other states poses the greatest threat to quickly spread EAB even further. Most EAB infestations in the United States have been started by people unknowingly moving infested firewood, nursery plants, or sawmill logs. The adult beetle also can fly short distances, approximately 2 to 5 miles.

EAB is native to eastern Asia, and was detected in the United States near Detroit, Mich., in 2002. Since 2003, the Iowa EAB Team has been conducting annual surveys to determine whether and where this pest is in Iowa. The team includes officials from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the USDA Forest Service.

“Treatments against EAB are too late this year. If you are within 15 miles of Burlington, Iowa, and have a healthy ash tree, preventive treatments can be made mid-April to mid-May 2014,” said ISU Extension and Outreach Entomologist Mark Shour. For more details, see ISU Extension and Outreach publication PM 2084, www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM2084.pdf.

Ash is one of the most abundant native tree species in North America, and has been heavily planted as a landscape tree in yards and other urban areas. According to the USDA Forest Service, Iowa has an estimated 52 million rural ash trees and approximately 3.1 million more ash trees in urban areas. Burlington has about 700 ash trees in the public right-of-way and an estimated 2,000 residential trees.

To learn more about EAB and other pests that are threatening Iowa’s tree population, please visit www.IowaTreePests.com. Or, for more information contact any of the following members of the Iowa EAB Team:
 Robin Pruisner, State Entomologist, 515-725-1470, Robin.Pruisner@IowaAgriculture.gov
 Tivon Feeley, DNR Forest Health Coordinator, 515-281-4915, Tivon.feeley@dnr.iowa.gov
 Emma Hanigan, DNR Urban Forest Coordinator, 515-281-5600, emma.hanigan@dnr.iowa.gov
 Jesse Randall, ISU Extension Forester, 515-294-1168, Randallj@iastate.edu
 Mark Shour, ISU Extension Entomologist, 515-294-5963, mshour@iastate.edu
 Laura Jesse, ISU Extension Entomologist, ISU Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic, 515-294-0581, ljesse@iastate.edu
 Donald Lewis, ISU Extension Entomologist, 515-294-1101, drlewis@iastate.edu.
 Jeff Iles, ISU Extension Horticulturist, 515-294-3718, iles@iastate.edu

… John Pearson, 26 July, 2013 - 9:59am

Iowa update December 2012

Press release from Iowa Department of Natural Resources, December 11, 2012

EMERALD ASH BORER FOUND AT TWO NEW LOCATIONS IN ALLAMAKEE COUNTY

Five insect larvae with characteristics that are consistent with the emerald ash borer have been found in two sentinel trap trees in Allamakee County. The larvae were collected on Oct. 25 in trees at Pool Slough and in Black Hawk Point Wildlife Area, south of New Albin.

These additional discoveries do not change the quarantine on moving wood from Allamakee County currently in place, but provides additional evidence of the invasive tree-killing pest’s location in the state.

“This is significant because the Black Hawk Point discovery is the furthest west infestation that we found,” said Tivon Feeley, with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources forest health program. This is also the first time emerald ash borer has been found in a sentinel tree in the state.

There are 80 of the 416 sentinel trees across the state left to check as part of the annual emerald ash borer surveillance effort.

The natural progression of the beetles by flight is estimated to be 2 to 5 miles per year, but moving infested ash material enables the beetles to move farther and faster. Based on information from Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, the presence is usually discovered a few years after the beetle becomes established.

The metallic green beetle causes its damage during its larval stage, a creamy-white legless flat worm up to one inch long. Larvae feed on the living tissue under the bark of ash trees, cutting off the pipelines of nutrients, minerals and water to the tree, and causing a slow death.

Residents within 15 miles of the latest finds who have ash trees on their property will have a decision to make to either use a preventive treatment from an arborist to save the tree or to wait for the borer to find the tree.

When choosing an arborist, make sure, at a minimum, that they are a member of an organization like the National Arborist Association, Iowa Arborists Association or the International society of Arboriculture or the American Society of Consulting Arborists. These organizations certify and offer continuing education training for their members.

Simply having a chainsaw and a truck (or insecticide treatment equipment) does not qualify someone as an arborist and homeowners are encouraged to do their homework, regardless of who they hire.

“Arborists are usually really busy and don’t have time to go door-to-door soliciting business,” said Emma Bruemmer, state urban forester for the DNR.

Preventive treatments include a springtime application of an insecticide directly to the ash tree or into the root zone of the tree. Larger trees may require a fall treatment as well. The DNR is discouraging aerial application to minimize the unintended impacts of the insecticide on nontarget insect populations, such as honey bees and natural enemy insects.

“We are discouraging homeowners who live more than 15 miles from the infestation from treating their ash trees with insecticides to protect them from this pest,” Feeley said. “Unfortunately, we are hearing reports of individuals distributing incorrect information promoting treatments across the state. It is unnecessary to treat healthy ash trees beyond 15 miles from a known infestation.”

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach has a list of recommendations for homeowners dealing with emerald ash borers at:
https://store.extension.iastate.edu/itemdetail.aspx?productid=13114

… John Pearson, 11 December, 2012 - 12:09pm

EAB in southeastern PA

Last month the Emerald Ash Borer was found in Warrington, PA, suburban Philadelphia. Many counties in western PA are under quarantine. We didn't expect it here, in Bucks County, so soon. Bad news!
Pay attention: don't move firewood! Often, this is how it jumps long distances.

… Beatriz Moisset, 6 April, 2012 - 8:59am

Protective measures

I don't think they have reached Perry County yet, but last summer I noticed many purple glue traps along the highway and at a local park. I guess they are trying to stop any from getting established here

… Vespula Vulgaris, 6 April, 2012 - 12:46pm

No records in Perry as of July 2011...

...but they'd been found in both Juniata and Cumberland, so this might be your year, unfortunately.

… Ken Wolgemuth, 6 April, 2012 - 5:42pm

Barney traps

I don't think the purple traps are protective in any way; they're just out to monitor the spread of the insects.

… Tristan McKnight, 6 April, 2012 - 1:13pm

Traps ...

Unfortunately, those purple traps are for survey purposes, not control.

… T. Gilliam, 6 April, 2012 - 1:11pm

I thought participants here might be interested

I've put together an article in the Articles section on Invasive Insects, and would like comments and suggestions.

… Chuck Entz, 4 July, 2010 - 7:22pm

Re: Emerald Ash Borer enters Iowa

What prevents these beetles from being so destructive in their native habitats? Is any form of biological control being developed?

… Natalie McNear, 14 May, 2010 - 1:38pm

Check out this article ...

EAB natural enemy info here.

… T. Gilliam, 14 May, 2010 - 1:48pm

Fascinating, thanks for the link!

… Natalie McNear, 14 May, 2010 - 2:08pm

Another predator...

that may utilize the EAB as a food source is a wasp in the genus Cerceris. I am working my second season with the EAB survey in Wisconsin. During our training, we learned of a natural, general predator of Buprestidae and may provision EAB as a food source for their larvae. We are on a lookout for Cerceris colonies anywhere in Wisconsin during our EAB surveys. Finding these colonies will help with future research on the wasp and its potential role it may serve to monitor for the EAB.

… Robert Otto, 16 May, 2010 - 7:36pm

How much testing is being done on those?

Do we know anything as far as how specific its predatory tendencies are? Could they end up parasitizing something beneficial or a native species that isn't so detrimental?

… Andrew Meeds, 18 May, 2010 - 9:12am

Cerceris wasps...

are a native group of wasps found largely in the eastern half of North America. They are burrowers. I recalled one study was done by a researcher who have collected buprestid beetles from the foraging females. After they located a Cerceris wasp nest, the researcher placed a plastic cup over her hole. When she returns, she tries to enter the blocked entrace to her nest. She ends up dropping her buprestid prey and fly away to find another prey. Researchers have found quite a diversity of buprestid beetles using that technique. To answer your question, Cerceris wasps are specialists of Buprestidae and are not too picky on the different species in that beetle group.

… Robert Otto, 20 May, 2010 - 5:56am

Sorry to hear this ...

terrible news, indeed. Is the state planning any eradication efforts? My mother-in-law lives in central Illinois - they have found small numbers of EAB in her home county - and the state forestry service came to her property and injected her trees (for a minimal fee, of course) to prevent infestation. I have heard that other states (Virginia, for one) are not planning any eradication efforts, they are going to monitor the spread of the pest and allow it to cause whatever damage it may (Virginia forests are composed of less than 10% ash, therefore the state does not regard this pest as economically significant). EAB makes Asian Longhorn Beetle (ALB) look like a desireable insect! This is why the US now has the most stringent Wood Packing Material (WPM) importation requirements in the world (zero tolerance for untreated/infested WPM). Unfortunately, these regulations came too late to stop these particular pests. Thanks for the update.

… T. Gilliam, 14 May, 2010 - 12:23pm

Des Moines Register article

This article in the Des Moines Register resulted from a press conference earlier today and touches upon the eradication question you asked.

… John Pearson, 14 May, 2010 - 8:41pm

Follow-up DNR press release

(Iowa DNR press release, May 18, 2010)

IOWA COMMUNITIES WORK TO PREVENT SPREAD OF EMERALD ASH BORER

The recent confirmation of four Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) larvae at Henderson Island on the Mississippi River, near New Albin, will step up Iowa’s efforts to prevent the spread of the invasive pest.

A quarantine prohibiting the movement of firewood, ash nursery stock, ash timber, or any other article that could further spread EAB is pending from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. A federal quarantine would follow the state quarantine.

The biggest impact will likely be felt by sawmills and firewood vendors who will now need to meet special quarantine requirements before shipping any of their products out of a quarantined area. Iowans can help slow the spread of EAB by not moving firewood. Purchase and burn the firewood locally.

Ash make up about 6 percent of Iowa woodland trees statewide. What does this mean to residents in northeast Iowa? Tivon Feeley, forest health program leader with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said homeowners should look at their ash trees.

“If they have dead or dying ash trees, it may be time to take them out,” said Feeley. “If there is a high value tree on the landscape, there are chemical treatment options, but the treatment is expensive and it is a lifetime commitment.”

As for communities, a grant from the USDA Forest Service allowed the DNR to develop a resource kit to assist in the battle with this invasive pest. The kit is available online at iowadnr.gov then click on State Forests/ Forestry and then on the EAB Resource Kit under the Urban Forestry heading in the column on the left.

The EAB resource kit will allow communities to estimate the cost to remove the trees and has information on where those trees can be processed. The kit also includes basic identification information, has a list of consulting foresters, and tree treatment options. Iowa has an estimated 58 million rural ash trees and another 30 million urban ash trees.

The DNR has been working with communities that have a population under 5,000 in 12 eastern Iowa counties after receiving a grant from the Forest Service. The grant provides funding to conduct community street tree inventories and to create comprehensive management plans. The management plans will focus on the importance of street trees, overall forest health of street trees, management cycles, risk tree mitigation, and suggestions on how to manage the ash tree populations. Regional meetings are being planned to answer questions from the communities that received management plans.

The DNR, working along side IDALS, ISU Extension and USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine, has received federal funding to monitor for the presence of EAB since 2005 using sentinel trees. Sentinel trees were created by removing a 6-inch strip of bark, called girdling, around standing ash trees that are 4-13 inches in diameter, or planting and girdling donated containerized ash trees, approximately 3 inches in diameter.

Since the primary movement of EAB is through firewood, the sentinel trees were established in high risk campgrounds and sawmills. To date, 1,177 sentinel trees have tested negative for EAB larvae. DNR has established an addition 412 sentinel trees for the 2010 monitoring season, 12 of these are in Allamakee County where EAB has been found.

Additional efforts to find adult Emerald Ash Borer are in place, and the EAB team members will again use the purple sticky traps in northeast Iowa and along the Mississippi River.

“We have been watching the insect get closer to Iowa and knew it was only a matter of time before it arrived,” said Feeley. “Now that it’s here, the wood industry in the immediate area will need to change the way it operates and campers will need to be vigilant in not moving firewood.”

… John Pearson, 18 May, 2010 - 12:47pm

Sounds like the state has a plan.

It sounds like Iowa is taking a more proactive stance on EAB than other states. Hopefully, you guys will be able to stop, or at least limit, the spread. I was in New York in early 2000 working on the Asian Longhorn Beetle (ALB) project there. I was on a survey team comprised of USDA/APHIS/PPQ (the agency I was with) personnel and NY State Department of Forestry personnel. I saw first hand the effects of having to notify homeowners that every tree on their property (in some cases, every tree in the neighborhood) needed to be cut down and ground into mulch. The majority of folks you will encounter will not give a hoot about the 58 million rural ash trees - it will be the 30 million urban trees that garner the bulk of the attention. People really notice when you take the trees out of their yards! We were actually threatened by people with hammers and baseball bats! I sympathize with everyone there in Iowa (and everywhere else this pest has made it's presence known). Good luck in your coming battle.

… T. Gilliam, 19 May, 2010 - 6:28am

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