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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Emerald ash borer found in all Iowa counties but one
Only Emmet County has not had a confirmation since pest was found in Iowa
Emmet County in far Northern Iowa is the lone remaining county in the state with no confirmed presence of a beetle that kills ash trees, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.
On Monday, the department said the emerald ash borer was discovered in Palo Alto County for the first time, in a tree in a public area near Emmetsburg.
The beetle was first found in 2010 in far Northeast Iowa and has since spread — now 98 of the state’s 99 counties have confirmed cases. The beetle’s larvae eat the living, inner bark of ash trees and typically kill them within two to four years.
The beetle’s spread has led some cities to proactively remove ash trees in anticipation of their demise or to attempt insecticide treatments to prevent it. State conservation officials have estimated there were about 55 million ash trees in Iowa before the beetle’s arrival.
The adult beetles are metallic green and about a half inch long. Ash trees that are infested often have fewer leaves, sprouts with leaves coming from lower parts of the trunk or main branches, and holes where the beetles emerge that are shaped like the letter D and are about one-eighth of an inch wide.
This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
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