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No ash borer found in county, but new pest seen
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| ash borer |
By RANDY WELLS, rwells@indianagazette.net
First the good news: Those purple traps suspended in ash trees in Indiana County last summer by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture did not catch any emerald ash borers, an invasive beetle that agriculture officials warned could devastate ash trees.
(Originally published Monday, Jan. 12, 2009)
The not-so-good-news: The survey did confirm for the first time the presence of a new hardwoods pest in Indiana County, a tiny bark beetle called anisandrus, or Xyleborus maiche.
The state agriculture department last summer placed 10,000 purple panel traps in ash trees in 35 Pennsylvania counties, including 300 in Indiana County. The three-sided, 15-by-24-inch traps were baited with a lure to attract insects, which then stuck to the panels' adhesive surfaces.
The agriculture department was trying to determine if the emerald ash borer is widening its range, and if so, in what direction is it spreading, and how far and how fast.
The emerald ash borer is native to China and was discovered in 2007 on ash trees in Butler and Allegheny counties. Adult ash borers are dark green, one-half inch long and one-eighth-inch wide, and they fly from early May until September.
Larvae spend the rest of the year beneath the bark of ash trees, and when they emerge as adults, leave D-shaped holes in the bark about one-eighth inch wide. Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said last summer that an ash borer infestation has the potential to devastate the state's ash tree population.
The purple panel traps were collected in August by a field crew of 70 people working for the agriculture department. Sven-Eric Spichiger, entomology program manager for the state's Department of Agriculture, said the field crews made preliminary observations of the insects captured, and most traps did not have suspicious insects.
``They made the call in the field - send anything that was suspect'' in for closer examination in a laboratory, Spichiger said.
The analysis did not reveal the presence of any ash borers on traps from Indiana County, he said.
``We did not detect it in new areas'' of Pennsylvania, Spichiger said, but acknowledged that the survey - with one trap for every 1.5 square mile - was ``a loose net.''
Emerald ash borers were found last summer in new locations in Virginia, Maryland, Missouri and Wisconsin.
``If you look at the nation as a whole, the trapping was successful,'' Spichiger said.
The most interesting finding from the panel trap survey in Indiana County was the discovery of a tiny beetle new to the county - the Xyleborus maiche, or ambrosia beetle.
According to Spichiger, the Xyleborus maiche was found at the Moon Township Airport, near Pittsburgh, in 2006, and probably arrived in wood packaging on an international flight. It's interesting, he said, that the beetle's range has spread from Allegheny County to Indiana County in a couple of years.
According to the New Pest Advisory Group Web site, little is known about the biology of Xyleborus maiche. It is found in China, East Russia, North Korea, and now, Pennsylvania.
The tiny bark beetle attacks hardwoods, especially maples, walnuts, ash and elm trees, and some varieties of lilac bushes, Spichiger said.
Indiana County is among 15 counties where the state agriculture department will hang purple panel traps again this summer.
Anyone who finds a suspected emerald ash borer is encouraged to take steps not to move it to a new location. Spichiger suggests placing the suspected borer in a container of rubbing alcohol, and then contacting the nearest Penn State Extension office, state department of agriculture office, or the agriculture department's toll-free pest hotline at (866) 253-7189.
After the ash borer was discovered in Butler and Allegheny counties, a quarantine was imposed on those counties and neighboring Beaver and Lawrence counties to restrict the movement of ash nursery stock, green lumber and other ash material from the infected area.
Campers and homeowners in the quarantine area were reminded to use only locally harvested firewood, burn all firewood on site and not carry it to new locations, as the borer can be spread through the transport of infected firewood.
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(Originally published Monday, Jan. 12, 2009)
The not-so-good-news: The survey did confirm for the first time the presence of a new hardwoods pest in Indiana County, a tiny bark beetle called anisandrus, or Xyleborus maiche.
The state agriculture department last summer placed 10,000 purple panel traps in ash trees in 35 Pennsylvania counties, including 300 in Indiana County. The three-sided, 15-by-24-inch traps were baited with a lure to attract insects, which then stuck to the panels' adhesive surfaces.
The agriculture department was trying to determine if the emerald ash borer is widening its range, and if so, in what direction is it spreading, and how far and how fast.
The emerald ash borer is native to China and was discovered in 2007 on ash trees in Butler and Allegheny counties. Adult ash borers are dark green, one-half inch long and one-eighth-inch wide, and they fly from early May until September.
Larvae spend the rest of the year beneath the bark of ash trees, and when they emerge as adults, leave D-shaped holes in the bark about one-eighth inch wide. Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said last summer that an ash borer infestation has the potential to devastate the state's ash tree population.
The purple panel traps were collected in August by a field crew of 70 people working for the agriculture department. Sven-Eric Spichiger, entomology program manager for the state's Department of Agriculture, said the field crews made preliminary observations of the insects captured, and most traps did not have suspicious insects.
``They made the call in the field - send anything that was suspect'' in for closer examination in a laboratory, Spichiger said.
The analysis did not reveal the presence of any ash borers on traps from Indiana County, he said.
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Emerald ash borers were found last summer in new locations in Virginia, Maryland, Missouri and Wisconsin.
``If you look at the nation as a whole, the trapping was successful,'' Spichiger said.
The most interesting finding from the panel trap survey in Indiana County was the discovery of a tiny beetle new to the county - the Xyleborus maiche, or ambrosia beetle.
According to Spichiger, the Xyleborus maiche was found at the Moon Township Airport, near Pittsburgh, in 2006, and probably arrived in wood packaging on an international flight. It's interesting, he said, that the beetle's range has spread from Allegheny County to Indiana County in a couple of years.
According to the New Pest Advisory Group Web site, little is known about the biology of Xyleborus maiche. It is found in China, East Russia, North Korea, and now, Pennsylvania.
The tiny bark beetle attacks hardwoods, especially maples, walnuts, ash and elm trees, and some varieties of lilac bushes, Spichiger said.
Indiana County is among 15 counties where the state agriculture department will hang purple panel traps again this summer.
Anyone who finds a suspected emerald ash borer is encouraged to take steps not to move it to a new location. Spichiger suggests placing the suspected borer in a container of rubbing alcohol, and then contacting the nearest Penn State Extension office, state department of agriculture office, or the agriculture department's toll-free pest hotline at (866) 253-7189.
After the ash borer was discovered in Butler and Allegheny counties, a quarantine was imposed on those counties and neighboring Beaver and Lawrence counties to restrict the movement of ash nursery stock, green lumber and other ash material from the infected area.
Campers and homeowners in the quarantine area were reminded to use only locally harvested firewood, burn all firewood on site and not carry it to new locations, as the borer can be spread through the transport of infected firewood.
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