HERTFORD COUNTY, N.C. — The green, metallic beetle, known as the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has appeared for the first time in Hertford County, North Carolina.
The North Carolina Forest Service said the insect digs into ash trees and eats the tissue under the bark, which kills the trees.
Assistant County Ranger John Kittrell found the insect near the N.C. Forest Service Hertford County Office, according to a press release.
The insects spread when infested wood, like firewood, is moved by humans. Officials recommend burning local or treated firewood to reduce the spread.
Adult borers lay eggs on the bark of ash trees. When the eggs hatch, the larvae bore into the bark and feed on the transportation tissues of the tree," the forest service said. "This disrupts the movement of nutrients and water within the tree, causing the tree’s slow death typically in three to five years."
Description of Emerald Ash Borer
- Adult EAB beetles are about a half-inch long and 1/8-inch wide.
- Under their wing covers, their bodies are a metallic purple-red color.
- In North Carolina, the adult EAB is typically active from late spring to early summer, likely April through June.
- EAB larvae may be found under the bark of the tree most of the year.
Signs and Symptoms of EAB infestation:
- thinning and dying crowns;
- increased woodpecker activity that causes the tree to look like it is losing patches of bark;
- small, 1/8-inch D-shaped exit holes where adult beetles emerged from the trees;
- galleries on the inside of the bark;
- cream-colored larvae;
- and, epicormic sprouting or sprouting from the main stem of the tree.
The beetle has been found in 71 counties in North Carolina, officials said.
The insect has also appeared in Gloucester County, Virginia.
News
Invasive tree-killing insect found in Gloucester Co., VDOF says
"The entire state of North Carolina is under a quarantine for EAB which prohibits the movement of ash plant parts, the insect itself, ash nursery stock and all hardwood firewood into nonquarantined areas such as central Tennessee, most of Alabama and Florida," officials said.
