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Back to the Forum Archives The Emerald ash borer has invaded Michigan. For reference, this insect is a variety of beetle with the technical name, Agrilus planipennis. These little guys used to be indigenous to Russia, China, Japan, and Korea. That was before our world economy with its shipping contains and super fast travel. Now the beetles are here. The best guess is they got here, probably through the Great Lakes, by hitchhiking aboard some international cargo vessels. Some people may not know that our Great Lakes are international waters because of the St Lawrence Seaway. So what? The so what is these beetles are systematically destroying Michigan's ash tree population. The ash, regardless of where it grows, is a valuable resource. The wood is particularly useful in the furniture industry and in other applications. Take a look at some of the properties from the Microsoft Bookshelf definition. Ash: Now, what would the Babe have been without the Louisville Slugger? So this is a serious problem for Michigan and any other state that has the ash tree as part of its natural resources. It could turn out to be a multi-billion dollar debacle. Right now our ash trees are being killed off in large quantities by these invaders. The question becomes, what can we do about this problem while there is still time? It is for sure our state government does not know the answer. As usual in these type of cases, the government has no idea what to do so they are threshing around and beating up on people. Our state government and the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) has this notion that they can stop this thing with quarantines. They are pretending they can contain it to specific areas. To achieve that they are patrolling our highways trying to catch people who are moving firewood. If you get caught in Michigan moving hardwood of any kind, you will be liable to severe penalties. I was out hunting for morels the other day and I saw the lie. Take a walk through any woods or forest in Southwestern Michigan and you will see the lie too. There are dead ash trees everywhere and the borer is migrating steadily northward and Westward. This insect does not need help to move. It does migrate by itself. From Michigan's own website we find that this beetle has a flying range of 1/2 mile. That is with no tailwind. I have been in just about every county in this state. I can affirm there is nowhere in Michigan that this insect cannot get on its own. It does not need to hitchhike anymore. We are not going to stop this thing with wishful thinking or with silly quarantines. I have no serious problem with a quarantine. It could be part of a solution, but, by itself, it will not do the job. We must have a real solution. I think, if we want to stop this plague, we are going to have to kill the beetles. Immediately, I see two ways to do that. Poison spray is the fastest way. It's how we control mosquitoes. There is risk to that. It is probably the real reason we have this infestation of beetles. Poisons don't only kill insects. Quite often they kill off birds. I suspect, if we had a large population of woodpeckers, we would not have a large population of ash borers. Perhaps, if we stopped using poisons we would not have the Dutch elm disease, the Emerald Ash Borers, and whatever comes next. Remember the Dutch elm disease was also spread by two different types of beetle. In this case it was the European elm bark beetle (Scolytus multistriatus), and the American elm bark beetle (Hylurgopinus rufipes). It would be nice if we had a large population of birds, including woodpeckers, but we do not. I sat on my deck just yesterday and listened. In all of the 35 acres of woodland around my home, I heard exactly one woodpecker. I should have heard dozens or even hundreds, but I heard only one. That one was very busy banging away on a tree so it could eat those damn bugs. God bless you Mr. or Ms. Woodpecker. It may be, the best way to fight these bugs now will take time and patience. We used it in Panama against a variety of Tsetse fly and it worked for that. It requires capturing and sterilizing adult male insects. I don't know if it would work in this case or not. What I do know is quarantines will not work. Unless we find a real solution we will soon be facing another Dutch elm debacle. Like most beetles, this bugger has a one-year life cycle. Adults begin emerging in mid to late June with peak emergence in early July. This is their airborne migrating stage. Egg-laying occurs soon after adult emergence. After hatching, the borer goes through several larval stages in July, August and September, when it tunnels under the bark and damages the tree. Then it hides out as a larva in the sap wood or bark and pupates in late spring. I think if we can get these guys at all, it will be in the airborne stage as soon as they emerge. This means we must first find a reasonably safe insecticide that will not kill birds, cats, or cute little doggies. Then we must apply it to all know infected areas in the months of June and July. If you know of another real solution, I will be happy to hear of it. According to the Michigan website, they are looking into pesticides, but, so far as I know, nothing has yet been done. This problem has been with us long enough. We should not be talking. We should be acting. If you want to keep abreast of this thing, here is the place
to find the latest information on the Emerald Ash Borer, www.michigan.gov/eab.
Let us hope they work it out soon.
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