The emerald ash borer (EAB), an exotic species of beetle that attacks and destroys ash trees, has been confirmed in Greene and Wayne County.
?We encourage homeowners and people dealing with trees as a profession to report possibly infected trees,? said Mike Kintner, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship EAB and gypsy moth coordinator. ?We are particularly interested in finding EAB in counties not yet known to be infested.?
EAB is Native to Asia, and has now made its way to forty-three counties in Iowa.
Specimens from these sites were confirmed by a federal identifier.
The adult beetle is metallic green in color and measures approximately one-half inch long and can be noticed during the summer months.
The larvae burrow through the inner layer of bark, eating away at the vascular tissue which supplies nutrients to the tree. Starved trees usually die within two to four years.
The USDA has enforced a federal quarantine, that restricts the movement of all hardwood firewood and ash articles out of Iowa into non-quarantined areas of other states.
