Managing the Emerald Ash Borer
Hunterdon County Division of Parks and Recreation - Managing the Emerald Ash Borer
The Emerald Ash Borer, (EAB) is an invasive flying beetle about the size of a penny. Adult beetles are an emerald green color, brighter than any other beetle in North America, and they nibble on the leaves of an ash tree. They are also attracted to the colors purple and green.
The larvae are cream colored and have a 10 segmented abdomen. They burrow into the tree bark and eat the cambium and phloem of a tree (critical for nutrient and water transport), resulting in the tree starving to death. 99.9% of untreated ash trees are killed once infested with EAB.
Some common signs that your ash tree has been infested with EAB are: 1) The crown dies off, 2) Vertical splits in the bark appear, 3) Epicormic sprouting, 4) D shaped holes appear, and 5) Serpentine tracks appear.
If the tree is valuable, enhances your landscape and appears to be healthy and vigorously growing, with more than half its leaves, and shows minimal outward signs of EAB infestation, it can be saved.
Unhealthy trees, with more than half of their leaves missing, woodpecker damage, bark splits and water sprouts at the tree base, should be removed immediately if they are determined to pose a safety risk.
Visit the following links for information on treatment and renewal: