The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB)

Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is an insect from Asia that is attacking Ohio’s Ash trees. EAB is a member of the metallic wood boring beetle family. It attacks all native, North American Ash trees regardless of the tree’s health. Once an EAB infestation occurs, it kills the tree in three to five years.

From late spring through autumn adult beetles mate, and the female lays 60-90 individual eggs on Ash tree bark. The eggs hatch 7 to 10 days later and the larvae tunnel into the tree just beneath the bark where they feed on the live tissue of the tree. The larvae’s S-shaped feeding pattern, called galleries, disrupts the transport of water and nutrients, eventually killing the tree. Over the winter, the larvae remain under the bark. When warmer weather arrives, larvae enter the pupae stage and then transform into adults. The beetles emerge through distinctive D-shaped exit holes. The adults feed on leaves before mating and laying eggs starting the cycle over again.

The winged beetle has the ability to fly ¼ to ½ mile per year. But the EAB can travel easily in firewood and nursery stock and it is possible that it will arrive much sooner despite state and federal quarantines of infested regions.

EAB Information from the Ohio Department of Agriculture