A destructive, invasive pest that can quickly cause death in ash trees has popped in up two widely separated regions of the U.S., with reports of emerald ash borer beetles in both Boston and in Colorado.
In Boston, the shiny green beetle has been discovered in a tree trap in the city's Arnold Arboretum, while in Boulder, Colo., city officials have confirmed three new sightings of the tree-killer within the city limits.
In Massachusetts the beetles were first detected 2 years ago in the Berkshires and its eventual arrival in Boston had been expected, state officials said.
While the invasive pest, a native of Asia, cannot move far on its own, it will happily hitch a ride in firewood being moved around the state, they said.
"People are what is moving this insect so fast," says Ken Gooch, forest health program director for the Department of Conservation and Recreation. "The insect wouldn't move so fast on its own."
When the beetles were first detected in Berkshire County, followed later by Essex County, officials issued a ban on the transporting of firewood out of both counties.
However, the message has not been heeded by everyone, Gooch says.
"Buy local, burn local," he urges. "So get your firewood from a local source and burn it where you buy it from."
In Colorado, a federal quarantine of ash wood products had already been in place before the additional discoveries in Boulder.
"Based on the evidence we're seeing here, these trees were probably infested three or more years ago," says Mitch Yergert of the Colorado Department of Agriculture. "But we do expect to see some additional spread this summer within the City of Boulder."
The emerald ash borer first showed up in the United States in 2002 in Michigan. It is believed it entered the country unintentionally in ash wood used with shipping crates.
Since then it has been found in 23 states and is blamed for the deaths of millions of ash trees.
The insects lay their eggs on the bark of ash trees, and the hatching larvae burrow into the bark into the sapwood, disrupting the trees' internal circulatory system that delivers water and nutrients upward from it roots, leading to the tree dying in from 3 to 5 years.
Of the estimated 8 billion ash trees in North America, around 150 million to 200 million are thought to have fallen victim to the insect.
"Emerald Ash Borer is a very rapid tree killer," Gooch says.
