EAB Predictions

Emerald ash borer emergence begins when 450 to 500 degree days (base 50 F) have accumulated starting on January 1; peak adult activity occurs at about 765 dd. You can use this degree day calculator on the UK AG Weather web site to get information for your area: 1) select the station nearest you from the drop down menu, 2) select 50 from the Base menu, and 3) have the information returned to the screen. Accumulated degree days will appear in a table using temperature data up to the current date. An "F" will indicate that degree day totals beyond the current day will be calculated using historical daily high and low temperatures. Use the back arrow to return to this page.

If you are using an imidacloprid drench to protect your ash trees, it needs to be applied 4 to 6 weeks before adult emergence. You can calculate the approximate emergence date for your area to help determine when to treat. Knowing when peak adult flight should occur may allow you to watch for the insects or leaf-feeding by the adults.

Some considerations:

• Treatment of ash trees is recommended only in quarantined counties or within 15 miles of known infestations; it is not necessary to treat ash trees outside of these areas. See the maps below for known EAB activity.
• Consider that a preventive treatment program may be needed for 7 to 12 years. This includes the time that the EAB population builds in your area and peaks. The actual time will vary and adjustments can be made as the infestation develops.
• Assess (with professional assistance if necessary) tree size and health before beginning treatments.
• Drench applications are unlikely to protect ash trees > 12 " diameter at breast height (dbh) 4.5 feet above ground level. Have professionals treat large ash trees that you want to protect.Commercial pesticide applicators and certified arborists use products and application techniques that are not available to homeowners.
• Fertilize healthy ash trees in the fall and water as needed.

EAB 2011 Trapping Survey Report

Click on the county names below for expanded maps from the Office of the State Entomologist showing locations of EAB trap catches from the 2009 - 2001 EAB surveys. Green diamonds = 2009, purple X = 2010, and purple triangle = 2011. Absence of symbols does not mean that the insect is not present.

• Anderson - Franklin- Henry (#1 in ash stems per county) - Owen - Shelby - Woodford
• Boone - Kenton - Campbell
• Boyd - Greenup
• Boyle - Garrard
• Fayette - Jessamine
• Hardin
• Jefferson - Oldham

Emerald Ash Borer Management Statement- 2012

Conservation of ash trees has been endorsed by the Coalition for Urban Ash Tree Conservation as a fundamental component of integrated pest management programs to manage the EAB in residential and municipal landscapes. Research on EAB management has identified cost-effective, environmentally-sound treatment options that can preserve ash trees though peak EAB outbreaks used in association with tree inventories and strategic removal / replacement of unhealthy ash. Follow this link to the complete Emerald Ash Borer Management Statement .

Up-to-date information on EAB insecticides, application protocols, and effectiveness can be found in Insecticide Options for Protecting Ash Trees from Emerald Ash Borer.

Questions naturally arise on potential impacts of the systemic insecticides used for EAB management on the environment and non-target species. Follow this link to a publication that addresses this topic.

Identifying the EAB

EAB adults are 3/8 to 1/2-inch long and very narrow (about 1/5-inch wide). The head is blunt, the body tapers noticeably at the end of the abdomen. The wing covers are emerald green; the top of the abdomen, visible when the wings are spread, is metallic purple-red.

Newly emerged adults are most active when it is warm and sunny. They feed for several days before mating, chewing irregular notches along leaf margins. Mated females will feed for another week or two before laying eggs in bark crevices or under bark flaps on the trunk. One female will lay between 60 and 90 eggs.

Many green insects can be confused with the emerald ash borer. The picture below (courtesy of the Missouri Dept Agriculture) shows an EAB along with several look-alikes. The line-up includes (top row L-R): EAB, a bark gnawing beetle (family Trogossitidae), Buprestis rufipes, green June beetle, and the caterpillar hunter. (bottom row L-R) Japanese beetle, a green tiger beetle, green stinkbug, dogbane beetle, and a metallic bee. The picture shows relative sizes and shapes of these insects.

EAB adults are capable of flying 1/2 mile or more per day but most spread from newly established sites seems to cover distances in the range of 100 yards. Long distance spread is the result of inadvertent spread by humans in infested firewood and unprocessed ash logs."

Resources and Quick Facts

This brochure provides an easy-to-follow checklist to help recognize ash trees, EAB infestation symptoms, and emergence holes.

Emerald Ash Borer Frequently Asked Questions for Kentuckians provides information on the EAB in Kentucky.

This field guide provides pictures of various life stages of the emerald ash borer, its damage, and identification of common ash species.

According to the Ky Division of Forestry, there are 130.9 million stems of white ash and 92.5 million stems of green ash in the Commonwealth. This USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis map (above) shows the distribution of ash stems by county (darkest color = highest to lightest = lowest) based on a 2006 Forest Inventory and Analysis. Elliot county is not listed.

This USDA Forest Service list shows the numbers of ash stems by county with rankings. The five counties with the greatest ash stem numbers are: Henry, Bath, Spencer, Pulaski, and Hopkins.

Forest Inventory and Analysis Factsheet for Kentucky 2004 states that the elm-ash-cottonwood component is 6% of the Commonwealth's 11.7 million forested acres. This type has been defined as the lowland forests where American elm ( Ulmus americana ), green ash ( "Fraxinus pennsylvanica"), eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides ") or silver maple (Acer saccharinum) comprise singly, or in any combination, the largest component of stocking. It occupies a large but irregular area on the floodplains and bottomlands of the north central United States. (Shifley and Brown 1978).

Based on a 2005 Lexington street tree survey, ash species comprised almost 11% of about 51,000 street trees. It is estimated that there are more than 10,000 ash trees in the Urban Service Area (LFUCG 2007).

The ash component of Louisville's tree population is 17%. About 5% of the trees in the Waterfront Development are ash. (Louisville City Arborist and Management of Waterfront Development).

Ky EAB Quarantine

State officials have issued a quarantine to regulate the transportation outside those counties of articles that could harbor the emerald ash borer. The quarantine prohibits regulated articles from being moved outside a quarantined area without a certificate or limited permit except under certain conditions. A regulated article may be moved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Kentucky Department of Agriculture for experimental or scientific purposes; may be moved in an enclosed vehicle or completely covered to prevent access by the emerald ash borer (through Sept. 30); may be moved directly through the quarantined area without stopping except for traffic conditions and refueling; may be moved if it is stored, packed or handled at locations that do not pose a risk of infestation; and may be moved if it has not been combined or commingled with other articles.

Regulated articles are defined as the emerald ash borer, hardwood firewood, ash nursery stock, green ash lumber, other ash material, and any other materials that present a threat of artificial spread of the emerald ash borer.

The counties under quarantine are Boone, Bourbon, Campbell, Carroll, Fayette, Franklin, Gallatin, Grant, Greenup, Harrison, Henry, Jefferson, Jessamine, Kenton, Oldham, Owen, Pendleton, Scott, Shelby, Trimble and Woodford. The quarantined area includes the seven counties where the emerald ash borer has been identified.