Emerald Ash Borer Information

Video from www.treeresearch.org(click here) featuring Wayne A. White, Board Certified Master Arborist at the Oakland County International Airport in Waterford, Michigan.  Narrated by Dr Dave Roberts of MSU who first discovered this insect in early 2002.

Biology of the Emerald Ash Borer
More Information about IMIDACLOPRID

SAVE THE ASH!

Emerald Ash Borer – Agrilus planipennis is an exotic beetle feeding on ash trees in the phloem and outer sapwood. Adults emerge in late May thru June. Females lay from 65 to 90 eggs which hatch in 7 to 10 days. Larvae chew through the bark and into the cambial region where they remain until pupation in May. Infestation is difficult to detect until dieback of canopy begins. Branches will die once they are girdled by the serpentine tunnels losing 30 – 50% of the canopy in year one and killing the entire tree in years 2-3.

What does the Emerald Ash Borer look like?   (click here)

Effective treatment takes place in year one or as a preventative application.

You can control the borer with an injection of Pointer (Imidachloprid) directly into the cambial area with the “Wedgle” Direct-Inject Tree Injection System. This injection method places the chemical directly where the insect is active without harming the tree like other drilling methods. One application per year will kill the borer larvae and prevent further damage.  The “Wedgle” is manuafactured by ArborSystems Inc.  You can read more about it at (www.arborsystems.com).

History of IMIDACLOPRID

IMIDACLOPRID was originally manufactured only by Bayer Environmental Science as they had a patent up until very recently.  Now other companies are starting to manufacture IMIDACLOPRID and it will start to show up soon under several different labels.  It was first discovered in 1985 when a better alternative to nicotine was being searched for. Nicotine is a toxic insecticide but it was also found to be too toxic to warm blooded animals. (Makes you wonder what smokers are really putting in their bodies!) IMIDACLOPRID is in the family of Chloronicotinyl Insecticides. It has a novel mode of action wherein it interferes with nerve impulse transmission of insects. It is benign in its exposure to people. IMIDACLOPRID only affects insects not warm blooded animals. It was first Registered for use in 1994 as MERIT.

IMIDACLOPRID is the most widely used insecticide in the world. Some of the advantages of this insecticide are

1. Application rates are very low. Small amounts are very effective.
2. It has a long residual control of 6-8 months. This is very important with our ash trees as one application is all that is needed per year.
3. This systemic insecticide is easily translocated to other parts of a plant other than where it was originally applied.
4. It has less impact on non-target organisms than other insecticides. This is important in soil injections where we hope we are not affecting the earth worms and other “beneficial” organisms.

Treatment of trees showing no symptoms as a preventative is recommended due to the severity of the infestation and the lethal consequences of the Ash Borer.