Emerald Ash Borer is an exotic beetle that will nibble on ash foliage, after eating the foliage, the beetle will lay eggs on the Ash tree. The beetle is native to Asia and it is believed it came to the United States in cargo ships carrying wood material. The first Emerald Ash Borer case confirmed in the United States was in Michigan in 2002. The larvae of these beetles feed on the inner bark of ash trees, which disrupts the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients throughout the tree. With the lack of nutrients throughout, the Ash tree will die. Emerald Ash Borer is extremely contagious between trees because often times the beetles do not settle onto just one tree so once one tree is infested, there is usually an outbreak across many.
Some symptoms of Emerald Ash Borer are yellow, thin or wilted leaves, D-shaped beetle exit holes, bark removing from the trees, or unusual woodpecker presence and pecking holes. The symptoms that were seen with our trees within the park were the wilted foliage and the bark was peeling from the trees.
Once the tree is infected, you do not necessarily need to cut down the tree, however if there are other trees within a close vicinity it is best to do so to prevent a widespread outbreak. It is important to quarantine the dead, infected tree so that the disease does not spread.
