EMERALD ASH BORERS

STOP EMERALD ASH BORER DAMAGE.

The Emerald Ash Borer is an exotic wood-boring pest that is devastating ash trees in North America. Since Emerald Ash Borers are not native to North America, our ash trees have little natural resistance to this pest. To date, Emerald Ash Borers have been responsible for killing more than 40 million ash trees.

Adam's Pest Control Gets Rid of Emerald Ash Borers Fast.

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Adam's Treatment

Preventive Trunk And Foliage Treatment

Adam’s trained specialist will apply an EPA-approved, insecticide to the entire trunk and foliage of your ash tree to manage visiting beetles and newly hatching larvae. The treatment calls for two applications one in mid-May and one in mid- to late June. Adult Emerald Ash Borers ingesting or coming into contact with treated foliage will be exterminated. Contact treatment of the exterior of the tree and its foliage provides no management of any developing larvae inside the tree, and therefore this treatment is only recommended for the prevention of Emerald Ash Borer infestations.

Alternatively, Adam’s can inject an EPA-approved, systemic insecticide directly into the trunk of healthy Ash Trees. A single trunk injection provides up to two years protection against Emerald Ash Borer infestations.

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Treatment Of Infested Ash Trees

Trunk Injection

Trunk injection is the most effective management method and provides the fastest knockdown of existing Emerald Ash Borer infestations according to studies conducted at four universities. Adam’s trained specialist will inject an EPA-approved, systemic insecticide directly into the trunk of the infested ash tree(s). Trunk injection treatments are typically applied in spring, from mid-May to mid-June. The insecticide is distributed throughout the tree by means of its circulatory system.

Trunk injection treatments are most effective on trees with less than 20% dieback or thinning of their canopy. In many cases, the tree canopy will begin to improve in the second year of treatment giving the tree time to recover. Research indicates that it is probably too late to save trees that have lost more than 50% of their canopy.

Soil Treatment

An alternative to the injection method is to introduce the insecticide into the tree through its root system. Adam’s specially trained technician will apply EPA-approved, systematic insecticide to the soil; either pouring the solution into the ground within 2 feet of the base of the tree, or injecting the insecticide solution into holes made in the soil immediately adjacent to the base of the tree.

A number of studies indicate that for trees of less than 6'' Diameter Breast Height (DBH) a soil application every two years may be sufficient; otherwise, for high value trees or for larger trees, soil treatments should be done annually.

As with the trunk injection method, initial dieback of the tree is an important factor in determining potential for tree recovery. Soil treatments are most effective on trees with less than 20% dieback; and not practical on trees with over 50% dieback.

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Schedule A Treatment

Adam’s Pest Control has a dedicated team of representatives who are driven to protect your home or business and can answer any questions that you may have.

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A Closer Look

Known Issues

  • Damages Landscapes

Active Seasons

  • Summer

Pest Overview

In May 2009, the emerald ash borer was confirmed in Minnesota. Because these beetles can wipe out all infested ash trees, it is our responsibility to work together to stop the aggressive movement of this invasive pest towards our parks, nurseries, forests, streetscapes, and backyards.

Unfortunately, emerald ash borers easily spread either naturally (adult beetles can fly and to new areas) or by human assistance through the movement of infested ash logs from affected areas to neighboring places.

DIY Treatment

Frequently Asked Questions

HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE EMERALD ASH BORERS?

  • Larvae bore through the bark and into the cambial region making S-shaped feeding gallery becoming progressively wider as the larva grows. Galleries weave back and forth across the wood grain.
  • Due to larvae feeding, canopy dieback begins in top one-third of canopy and progresses until the tree is bare.
  • Adult beetles leave distinctive D-shaped exit holes in the outer bark of branches and the trunk.

 Other signs of possible EAB infestation include:

  • The sprouting of epicormic shoots around the base of the tree or at the junction of live and dead parts of the trunk or branches.
  • Leaves of infested trees often look larger than normal.
  • Vertical cracks or spilt on bark due to callous tissue formation. Usually under this spilt, galleries are exposed.

WHAT DO EMERALD ASH BORERS LOOK LIKE?

  • Adult emerald ash borers are about 3/8” to 5/8” in length

  • Emerald ash borers have a flattened back with metallic green wing covers, and coppery red or purple abdominal segments beneath the wing covers.

  • Emerald ash borer larvae are creamy white, legless with flattened, bell-shaped body segments. The terminal segment bears a pair of small appendages.

ARE EMERALD ASH BORERS DANGEROUS?

No, emerald ash borers do not bite or sting humans nor do emerald ash borers spread any disease-causing organisms.

CAN MY HOUSE BE DAMAGED BY EMERALD ASH BORERS?

  • The emerald ash borer poses a very serious threat to all species of ash trees throughout the United States and Canada.

  • Emerald ash borers will not cause damage to your house, but anyone with ash trees on their property should be aware of this serious pest.

  • During the relatively short time that the emerald ash borer has been in North America, it is believed to have killed millions of trees in the United States and Canada, with billions more across North America at risk of infestation and death.

  • Emerald ash borer larvae live inside a tree and eat through the active phloem and xylem of the ash tree.  This causes general yellowing and thinning of the foliage followed by canopy dieback and the eventual death of the tree in one to three years.

  • Emerald ash borer adults do not tunnel inside a tree.

  • After emergence from a tree trunk; adult emerald ash borers typically fly within a ½ mile from their emergence tree to feed on the leaves of another ash tree and lay eggs.

  • However, they can fly up to 10 miles, especially when ash trees are not available within their normal flying zone.

WHY ARE EMERALD ASH BORERS IN MY YARD?

If you have any species of ash tree on your property and are within 10 miles of a known emerald ash borer infestation, your property is susceptible to an emerald ash borer infestation.

Adult emerald ash borers fly to ash trees to eat and lay eggs.

Emerald ash borers only attack ash trees; other species of trees are safe from infestation.

WHAT DO EMERALD ASH BORERS EAT?

  • From mid-May to mid-August, adult emerald ash borers are active and feed on ash foliage leaving small, irregularly shaped patches along the leaf margins.

  • However, adult emerald ash borers’ feeding causes little damage to the tree.

  • After hatching, the first instar larvae tunnel into the tree and feed on tree’s phloem for several weeks, creating S-shaped galleries packed with fine sawdust-like frass (larvae debris).

  • As the emerald ash borer larga grows, its gallery becomes increasingly wider. 

WHAT IS THE LIFECYCLE OF EMERALD ASH BORERS?

  • Generally, adult emerald ash borers live a total of three to six weeks.

  • During this period, male and female emerald ash borers feed for a few days prior to mating.

  • The feeding is continued for an additional 1 to 2 weeks before females actually begin laying eggs.

  • A female emerald ash borer can mate multiple times during her lifespan and lay from 30-60 eggs.

  • Eggs are deposited individually on the surface of the bark, in bark crevices or under outer bark or branches.

  • After depositing, eggs soon darken to a reddish brown, and hatch in 7 to 10 days.

  • Larval feeding is usually completed in autumn and pre-pupae overwinter in cells found about a half-inch into the sapwood or outer bark.

  • Pupation usually takes place when it begins to warm up in April or May.

  • It takes two to three weeks for emerald ash borer pupae to become adults, but adults often remain in the pupal chamber or bark for one to two weeks before emergence.

  • From May to early July, adult emerald ash borers chew a distinctive D-shaped exit holes in the bark and emerge from the ash trees.

  • In northern states, a two-year lifecycle can occur in newly infested ash trees that are relatively healthy; whereas in stressed trees, the lifecycle takes only a single year to complete.

WHAT OPTIONS DO I HAVE FOR TREATING MY ASH TREES?

  • Since emerald ash borers are not native to North America, our ash trees have little natural resistance to this pest.

  • If you choose to treat your ash trees, there are a variety of insecticide treatment options available and research has shown that treatments can be effective.

MY BACKYARD ASH TREES ARE INFESTED WITH EMERALD ASH BORERS. WILL APPLICATION OF INSECTICIDES STILL BE EFFECTIVE?

  • It depends on the initial level of the infestation.

  • Most of the insecticides used for emerald ash borer management act systemically. This means the insecticide must be transported within the tree through its circulatory system.

  • Emerald ash borer larvae feed inside a tree and damage the phloem and xylem, which make up the plant's circulatory system. This damage will hinder and weaken the capability of a tree to transfer the water, nutrients and the insecticides up the trunk and into the branches and canopy.

  • Research indicates that if a tree has lost more than 50% of its canopy, it is probably too late to save the tree. In these cases, insecticide applications are not justified.

  • Treatments are most effective on trees with less than 20% canopy thinning and dieback.

  • In many cases, the tree canopy will begin to improve in the second year of treatment giving a tree additional time to recover.

WHY DO I NEED TO HIRE A PEST MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL TO TREAT FOR THE EAB?

  • Adam’s licensed pest management professionals are specially trained on the proper method, placement, dosing, and timing of applications.

  • The products Adam’s use are professional grade and give better overall management, and longer residual effects, often times using less products and fewer applications than products you can purchase without a license.

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME OF YEAR TO TREAT MY ASH TREE(S)?

  • Adam’s can treat for emerald ash borers whenever your ash trees are actively moving water from the root system to the canopy (called transpiration).

  • Spring, however, is the most ideal time to treat trees for emerald ash borers because the trees are most actively moving water and can handle the stresses of processing the treatment much more effectively.

  • As the summer ends and turns into the fall, trees become more dormant and don’t move as much water.

  • Extreme weather conditions such as flooding that leads to over-saturation, the peak heat of summer, or a severe drought can limit the effectiveness of treatment.

6 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT EMERALD ASH BORERS:

  1. To date, emerald as borers are responsible of killing more than 40 million ash trees in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and other surrounding states.

  2. Emerald ash borers attack only ash trees (Fraxinus spp.).

  3. Emerald ash borers attack all species of ash of any size and age, and kills healthy ash trees as well as stressed ash trees.

  4. Emerald ash borers are native to eastern Russia, northeastern China, Mongolia, Taiwan, Japan and Korea, where it infests several species of ash.

  5. It is believed that emerald ash borers were accidentally introduced into North America via infested ash crating or pallets.

  6. Emerald ash borers were first detected in North America in southeastern Michigan in June 2002.  

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