Country: United States

Title: Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin

Contact:
Paul Chaloux, Acting EAB National Program Manager, (301) 734-0917

Report: On August 1, 2008, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) positively identified emerald ash borer (EAB) in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. This is the first detection of EAB in the State of Wisconsin.

On July 29, 2008, an employee with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) collected one adult beetle and numerous larvae from ash trees located in a private wood lot in the Township of Saukville, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. The WDNR employee was responding to a citizen’s report of dying ash trees in the private wood lot. Twenty to twenty-five trees in the immediate vicinity displayed woodpecker flecking, bark splitting, d-shaped exit holes, and dieback. Extensive serpentine galleries were seen under the bark of several trees when the bark was removed.

APHIS is working closely with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to begin delimiting survey work to determine the density and distribution of this EAB infestation.

Recently, EAB was detected in Wayne County, Missouri. An EAB infestation was also recently detected in Virginia. APHIS recently expanded the Federal EAB quarantine area in Virginia to parallel the State’s quarantine to include: Arlington, Fauquier, Loudon, Fairfax, and Prince William Counties. Currently, the entire States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois are quarantine areas for EAB, together with portions of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the entirety of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, and Prince George’s County in Maryland. Five counties in western Pennsylvania: Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Lawrence, and Mercer County, are now quarantined EAB areas.

Under IPPC standards, Agrilus planipennis is considered to be a pest that is present in some parts of the United States, but is subject to official control to prevent further spread.
 

Posted Date: Aug. 14, 2008, 9 a.m.