Pest Control Community

In an effort to prevent the spread of the Emerald Ash Borer, an extremely destructive plant pest, from infested areas into parts of the state that have not been infested, the Virginia Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (VDACS) has quarantined several counties in Virginia including Fairfax, Arlington, Fauquier, Loudoun and Prince William as well as the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax City, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park. This action prevents the removal of the following items from quarantined areas:

All hardwood firewood
Ash nursery stock
Ash green lumber
Any other ash material, living, dead, cut or fallen

The Emerald Ash Borer has been found throughout Michigan, across much of Ohio, and in parts of Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Infestations have also been found in areas of Ontario and in the province of Quebec. These large beetles are usually bronze, golden, or reddish green overall, with darker, metallic emerald green wing covers and are responsible for the death and decline of over 25 million ash trees nationwide. While adults feed on ash leaves with minimal damage it is the larvae that causes the most destruction. These immature beetles feed on the inner bark of ash tree which disrupts the tree’s ability to transport water and nutrients ending in an eventual death of the tree.

Newly infested trees are hard to detect as they show few symptoms, however, you should look for jagged holes excavated by woodpeckers feeding on late instar or prepupal larvae, D-shaped exit holes left by emerging adult beetles on branches or the trunk and bark split vertically over larval feeding galleries. In trees that have already been thoroughly infested by emerald ash borers you’ll see wilting foliage, dying or dead branches as will thinning canopies.

So how does this quarantine affect you? If you live in Fairfax County, Virginia or elsewhere in the quarantined area you should not move firewood or any other ash material outside of the designated area. If you’re going camping buy your firewood when you arrive at your destination and be sure that you don’t inadvertently transport the emerald ash borer to other locations. In Virginia if you suspect you may have these damaging beetles in you ash trees you can contact the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services at 804-786-3515.

TAGS: Emerald ash borer, Fairfax County Virginia, tree pests, Virginia Department of Agriculture