Ash borer insects found in Aurora

No, it's not a Sleestak.

A number of ash trees along the parkway in the Foxcroft subdivision on Aurora's West Side have been identified as being infested with the emerald ash borer, the city announced Monday.

The Beacon News reports the city has been monitoring ash trees for several years. In November 2008, one emerald ash borer larva was found on the city's far East Side in a "trap tree."

The emerald ash borer is a metallic green exotic beetle native to Asia that is approximately one-half inch in length. It was first found in Michigan in 2002 and most probably was transported to the United States through solid wood packing material. Since then, the use of ash tree limbs for firewood has been determined to be the leading cause of the spread of the insects.

Adult beetles eat ash foliage and cause little damage, but larva feed on the inner bark, disrupting a tree's ability to transport water and nutrients.

Any homeowner who suspects a parkway tree is infested may call the city's customer service line at 630-264-4636, and a staff member will conduct an inspection.

Residents who suspect an ash borer infestation on private property may go to the city's Web site, www.aurora-il.org, where they will find photographs of ash trees, the ash borer itself and ash borer exit holes. The city cannot treat or remove trees on private property, but homeowners may call local tree care professionals for guidance on how to care for a tree that is affected.

Residents can go to www.emeraldashborer.info for the latest updates on the emerald ash borer.

The emerald ash borer has been found in Ohio, northern Indiana, northern Illinois, Maryland, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Missouri and Virginia. It was first reported in Minnesota this spring. Since its discovery, EAB has killed tens of millions of trees and caused regulatory agencies and the USDA to enforce quarantines to prevent infested ash firewood from moving out of areas where EAB has occurred.

Naperville City Desk reminds everyone PLEASE DO NOT TRANSPORT FIREWOOD.

Ancient Chinese secret may thwart emerald ash-borers

Emerald ash-borers, highly destructive insects that feed on and destroy ash trees, originated from China in the 1990s. Since then they have cut a path of destruction throughout North America destroying 25 million trees. Experts at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle have decided to look to Asia for a possible solution to the ash-borer plague and are hoping the land of their origin will crack the problem.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports Kris Bachtell, the arboretum's director of collections and facilities, recently returned from China's Shaanxi Province with ash, linden and maple tree seeds.

Arboretum officials think Chinese ash trees have evolved borer resistance over thousands of years. Shaanxi's climate resembles Chicago's. They have germinated the seeds and hope to mate them with North American ash species to create a beetle-resistant hybrid.

Emerald ash borers have destroyed 25 million North American ash trees and don't appear to be letting up. Their larvae feed on the inner bark, causing the trees to starve and eventually die.

The green half-inch beetles were found in Chicago two years ago. The city is home to more than 600,000 ash trees.

Naperville City Desk wishes to remind everyone not to transport firewood of any kind in order to slow the spread of the insect.