The emerald ash borer is an invasive insect that is causing problems in over 30 U.S. states and parts of Canada. Learn about the insect, how it is destroying ash trees and why this is a huge problem.
The invasive emerald ash borer beetle has been confirmed in the Dallas city limits, city officials say, including the Great Trinity Forest.
The non-native small green beetle is devastating to ash tree populations, boring its way into the bark of the tree where it lays eggs. The beetle's larvae eventually feed on the tree's water-conducting tissue, slowly killing the tree.
City officials confirmed the presence of the invasive beetle was verified by city staff and the Texas A&M Forest Service in two locations within city limits including one near the intersection of Texas Loop 12 and Interstate 30 and another on the south side in the Great Trinity Forest.
The Texas A&M Forest Service estimates ash trees make up about 5% of the Dallas/Fort Worth urban forest and about 1% of the standing inventory forests in East Texas. The beetle has the potential to cause significant damage to the Great Trinity Forest in Dallas, where about 40% of trees are ash trees.
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Last summer, the beetle was found near Dowdy Ferry Road and Interstate 20.
The city's Environment and Sustainability Committee began studying ways to slow the beetle's progress in 2021 and began a preventative treatment of species of ash trees in the fall of 2022 with over 200 trees treated. This fiscal year, the city has installed 15 traps designed to catch the beetle and identify potential areas of infection.
The Dallas City Forestry Task Force is partnering with the Texas A&M Forest Service and the Texas Department of Agriculture to monitor EAB populations, treat significant trees, and remove infected trees if they pose a public safety concern.
The city said Dallas County is currently under a state-mandated quarantine forbidding the moving of ash wood, wood waste, and hardwood firewood products from within the county to non-quarantined counties. Denton, Parker, and Tarrant counties, all areas where the beetle has also been confirmed, are under the same quarantine.
Dallas said city staff will continue to monitor and track the beetle and resume tagging and treating significant ash trees defined as those that are 15 inches or larger in diameter, in good condition, or large groves of ash species. Infected ash trees that pose safety issues will be removed.
The beetle may have been first discovered in North Texas in 2018 by a 10-year-old Tarrant County boy who took a picture of the insect because he thought it looked "really weird." The boy uploaded the photo to an online database for naturalists where scientists in other states and countries eventually spotted it, identifying it as a possible emerald ash borer. Experts with the Texas A&M Forest Service were notified and investigated the boy's findings. EAB was first detected in Texas in 2016 in Harrison County (in between Longview, TX and Shreveport, LA)
WHAT IS AN EMERALD ASH BORER?
The emerald ash borer is a small beetle, green in color and smaller than a penny.
The beetle bores its way into the tree's bark and lays eggs. Larvae feed on water-conducting tissue, eventually killing the tree.
Officials said the insect has been confirmed in more than half of the United States and has killed millions of ash trees.
"Both healthy and unhealthy ash trees are susceptible to an EAB attack and may die within two or three years after becoming infested," said Allen Smith, Texas A&M Forest Service regional forest health coordinator, during an interview with NBC 5 in May 2022. "Ash trees have no natural resistance to the exotic insect. Without proper proactive measures, mortality can be 100% in heavily infested areas, so early detection could improve our chances to manage the pest."
Ash trees with low numbers of EAB often have few or no external symptoms of infestations. However, residents can look for signs of EAB among their ash trees, including dead branches near the top of the tree, leafy shoots sprouting from the trunk, bark splits exposing s-shaped larval galleries, extensive woodpecker activities, and D-shaped exit holes.
The beetle was first discovered in North America in 2002 in Michigan. It has since spread to at least 36 states, killing millions of ash trees.
To report emerald ash borer, please call the EAB Hotline at 1-866-322-4512.
