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	NEWS RELEASE l Ohio Department of Agriculture

Governor Bob Taft Lieutenant Governor Bruce Johnson 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

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (March 31, 2005) – Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) officials have identified Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis), a destructive exotic pest from Asia, for the first time in ash trees in northern Hancock County. Department surveyors have begun scouting the area to determine the extent of infestation.

Department officials, while surveying nearby infestation areas, discovered Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) larvae in the branches of felled ash trees being logged out of a woodlot near VanBuren, Ohio. The infested trees are located just outside the department’s neighboring North Baltimore eradication zone. While it appears that the two infestation sites are connected, this is Hancock County’s first known EAB infestation.

“The Hancock County discovery illustrates the cooperation needed in detecting and halting the artificial spread of Emerald Ash Borer,” said Lucia Hunt, ODA’s EAB Program Coordinator. “Citizens harvesting ash trees or transporting firewood need to be aware of Ohio’s quarantine, look for signs of infestation, and proactively contact our department before handling ash material.”

ODA and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials are tracking the movement of the harvested ash logs to check for infestation. If infested logs are found, officials will work with the individual, if possible, to get a compliance agreement in place. This would allow for consideration of marketing the logs and also ensure the infested part of the log is destroyed to prevent further spread of the pest.

To date, EAB infestations have been identified in Defiance, Franklin, Fulton, Hancock, Henry, Lucas, and Wood counties. The pest was first identified in Ohio in 2003. Since then, ODA has eradicated the pest from Franklin County and continues eradication and regulation efforts in the additional six counties.

Ash trees infested with EAB will typically die in 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, one-half inch in length and one-eighth 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 one-eighth inch wide.

For more information on Emerald Ash Borer or for a map of Ohio’s regulated areas, go to the department’s Web site, www.ohioagriculture.gov/eab, or call 1-888-OHIO-EAB.

NEWS RELEASE l Ohio Department of Agriculture

Communications Office