Officials on lookout for emerald ash borers in Mo. forests

WAYNE COUNTY, Mo. -- It took several minutes Wednesday for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Louis Dersch to free a prism-shaped insect trap from an ash tree towering above Holliday Landing in Wayne County.

More than 800 of the traps are being used in Wayne County this summer to track the spread of the emerald ash borer, an Asian beetle estimated to have killed 50 million ash trees in 10 states.

"They have the potential to completely eliminate the ash tree from this country," Dersch said after scanning hundreds of bugs stuck in the clear adhesive covering all three sides of a trap from County Road 543.

Neither the traps collected Wednesday nor the roughly 250 already brought in appear to have netted one of the metallic green bugs. Each trap will need to be examined more closely when collection is completed, Dersch said. They are being stored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Lake Wappapello until then.

Infected ash trees starve after emerald ash borer larvae tunnel into the bark to feed, destroying the tree's nutrient-carrying tissue.

"These bugs are found in all species of ash and so far are fatal to every one," Dersch said.

The USDA's Plant Protection and Quarantine's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is conducting the survey because emerald ash borers were found last year at Greenville Recreation Area.

State agencies are collecting another 250 traps placed around the state early this summer to test for ash borer infestation.

"What happens next year will be determined this winter, after we know the results from this area," Dersch said. "There will be something going on here, no matter what."

Traps were placed a minimum of 10 feet high in trees and hung at the start of the adult beetle's flying season. This time period varies because the rate beetles mature depends on temperatures.

Currently, the best way to fight the insects is to destroy infested trees. Work is being done by those involved with the national Emerald Ash Borer Project to find chemical or biological controls.

"Early detection is important," Dersch said. "Like a military maneuver, you cut off the little platoon of the enemy and maybe cut off everything. Historically, new infestations go five years before being detected. The thought is they could spread over quite an area."

Researchers think the bugs are attracted to the purple color of the traps they are using. A lure coated with manuka and phoebe oils is used to attract adult emerald ash borers.

"Since they first discovered the beetle, there has been frantic research to get the best lure and trapping technology so it doesn't take five years to detect the infestation," Dersch said.

The emerald ash borer was first found in the U.S. in Michigan in 2002. It is thought they were brought here in solid wood packing material. The ash borer's spread across the country has been attributed to the transport of nursery stock and hardwood firewood.

Quarantines prohibit the removal of ash trees or hardwood firewood from Wayne County unless specific conditions are met and approved by state or federal agriculture agencies.

Signs of ash borer infestation include branches dying in the upper part of the tree, new sprouts on the lower trunk, split bark, increased woodpecker activity and S-shaped tunnels under the bark.

Those who think they may have found evidence of the beetles should call 866-716-9974.