Issue 10, July 14, 2014
Emerald Ash Borer in St. Louis Area
The emerald ash borer (EAB) has been found in St. Charles County, marking the destructive insect's first known infestation in the St. Louis area. EAB was first found in Missouri in the southeastern portion of the state in 2008 south of Greenville at a campground on Lake Wappapello. Since then, EAB has been found in 11 Missouri counties, mostly in the Kansas City area.
Emerald ash borer adult.
The infestation in St. Charles County was discovered by an employee at an industrial park on Highway N, a few miles south of Interstate 64. He noticed a declining ash tree in the parking lot. He looked closer and found the distinctive D-shaped exit holes. He then called the urban forester from the Missouri Department of Conservation. The forester, along with entomologists from the Missouri Department of Agriculture, collected a good adult specimen. USDA personnel in Brighton, Michigan, confirmed it was EAB.
Additional information on EAB in Missouri can be found at http://extension.missouri.edu/treepests/. The second edition of "Insecticide Options for Protecting Ash Trees from Emerald Ash Borer" published in June 2014 is located at http://www.emeraldashborer.info/files/multistate_EAB_Insecticide_Fact_Sheet.pdf. The University of Illinois recommendations for the management of EAB are located at http://extension.cropsci.illinois.edu/ornamental/insects/. (Phil Nixon and University of Missouri Extension news release)
Author:
Phil Nixon