NEWS RELEASE l Ohio Department of Agriculture
Governor Bob Taft Lieutenant Governor Jennette B. Bradley Director Fred L. Dailey		Communications Office 8995 East Main Street • Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068 Phone: 614-752-9817 • Fax 614-466-7754 ODA URL: www.ohioagriculture.gov • e-mail: agri@agri.ohio.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 9, 2004

Media Contact: Melissa Brewer, EAB Communications, 614-728-6404

Emerald Ash Borer Discovered in Two Additional Lucas County Locations

REYNOLDSBURG – Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Fred Dailey today announced that Emerald Ash Borer ( Agrilus planipennis ), a destructive exotic pest from Asia, has been identified in ash trap trees in two new Lucas County locations, one in Point Place and another in Oregon. Ohio Department of Agriculture surveyors soon will begin scouting the northeast Lucas County areas to determine the extent of the infestations.

“We are in the midst of removing and inspecting trap trees in northwest Ohio,” Dailey said. “Discovering Emerald Ash Borer infestations in these trees, while undesirable, is to be expected when using an effective monitoring tool. These trap trees were arranged to help gauge the extent of Ohio's infestation and further aid us in battling this bug.”

In Point Place, an infested trap tree was discovered near the intersection of 288th Street and 108th Street. The infested tree, which lies within the department's recently expanded regulated area, is less than a mile away from the Ottawa River and north of Detwiler Park. Department officials also discovered two infested trees in Oregon on Pickle Road, just east of State Route 51 and the Toledo city limits. The initial Oregon discovery was on a trap tree.

Both of the new Emerald Ash Borer discoveries are being treated as “satellite infestations.” Survey work should begin this week in these areas to determine the extent of the infestations and needed eradications. The cause of the infestations has not yet been determined.

To date, Emerald Ash Borer infestations have been identified in Defiance, Franklin, Fulton, Henry, Lucas, and Wood counties . The pest was first identified in Ohio in Lucas County in 2003.

Ash trees infested with the Emerald Ash Borer will typically die within three to five years. The pest belongs to a group of insects known as metallic wood-boring beetles. Adults are dark metallic green in color, 1/2 inch in length and 1/8 inch wide, and fly only from early May until September. Larvae spend the rest of the year beneath the bark of ash trees, and when they emerge as adults, leave D-shaped exit holes in the bark about 1/8 inch wide.

Citizens can help by reporting signs of Emerald Ash Borer to the department's toll free number, 888-OHIO-EAB. They should also refrain from moving ash trees, lumber, or firewood inside or beyond quarantined areas and should alert the department if they receive such items from quarantined areas. For more information on detection and identification of Emerald Ash Borer, go to the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Web site, www.ohioagriculture.gov , and look under “Emerald Ash Borer.”

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