(Spencer)– A public informational meeting on emerald ash borer was held Wednesday evening in Spencer. The pest, which is fatal to ash trees, has been confirmed in Clay county and a number of other counties in northwest Iowa. Mike Kintner, an entomologist with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, told the crowd this pest, over time, will make infected ash trees brittle, which poses some real hazards…
Kintner says the bell-shaped larva of the borer travels in an S-shaped pattern under the bark and feeds on nutrients of the tree. He says canopy die back begins in the top of the tree and travels downward…
A split in the bark can also be an indicator of infestation.Kintner says ash trees can be treated with an insecticide, but he says the success of treatment depends largely upon whether or not a tree is already infected. He adds a number of factors need to be considered for treatment, and the trees need to be treated on a regular basis. Kintner says trees that have greater than 30 percent of their canopy that’s died off are too far gone for treatment. He also recommends those who are within 15 miles of an area where emerald ash borer has been confirmed to pre-emptively treat their ash trees if they want to preserve them.
