Emerald Ash Borer Treatment for Omaha Ash Trees
Emerald ash borer has reached Nebraska's neighbors on every side. Here's what the pest does to ash trees and how injection treatment stops it.
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What the emerald ash borer is and where it came from
The emerald ash borer (EAB) is a highly invasive, non-native insect that attacks and kills all species of North American ash trees, including white, green, and black ash. It is native to Asia and was first detected in the United States in the summer of 2002, in the Detroit, Michigan area, where it was found feeding on ash trees.
Since that first discovery, EAB has spread to 24 states, with confirmed infestations in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa. Because ash trees are native to Nebraska, an infestation here has been considered inevitable. Recent research also suggests the pest may have spread beyond ash to attack the white fringetree as well.
How to identify emerald ash borer
Adult beetles are emerald green and measure approximately 1.5 inches long, with slender, elongated bodies. The larvae are the more destructive life stage: they grow up to 1.25 inches long, are white or cream colored, and have brown heads with a 10-segmented body ending in a pair of brown, pincher-like appendages.
Adult borers feed on ash foliage, but it's the larvae that cause the critical damage. They burrow into the trunk and feed on the inner bark, disrupting the tree's ability to move water and nutrients up from the roots.
Why an infestation is so destructive so quickly
Emerald ash borer is bad news for ash trees specifically because of how fast it spreads once it arrives. Within 8 years of an infestation being discovered in a community, typically 80% of that community's ash trees are dead.
That matters beyond the individual tree. Mature ash trees add significant landscape value, provide shade that reduces cooling costs, and help manage stormwater runoff and erosion — all of which disappears when a tree is lost to EAB.
Treatment: trunk injection by a certified arborist
Tree injections administered by a certified arborist are the latest and most effective way to protect an ash tree from emerald ash borer. The systemic insecticide is injected at the base of the trunk through small plugs and one-way ports designed to minimize wounding to the tree.
Properly administered injections are 99-100% effective at protecting the tree, and protection begins within about a week of treatment. The treatment addresses both the adult and larval stages of the insect and can stop further damage even in a tree that is already infested. One treatment protects the tree for two years.
Related reading
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Stressed trees are more vulnerable to borer attack — see how to keep ash trees healthy.
Emerald Ash Borer Treatment
Our certified arborists administer trunk injections that protect Omaha ash trees at 99-100% effectiveness.
