Emerald Ash Borer detected in all 99 Iowa counties

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCAU) — The Emerald Ash Borer has officially been detected in all 99 Iowa counties.

According to a press release from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the invasive ash tree-killing insect has officially been detected in every county in Iowa.

The final county in Iowa to detect it, Emmet County, submitted a positive sample from an ash tree in Armstrong earlier this month.

EAB is a wood-boring insect that is not native to the United States and is a threat to ash trees. They were unknown in North America until they were first detected back in 2002 in Michigan. The insect can now be found in 37 of the 50 states and was first detected in Iowa in Allamakee County back in 2010.

The insect is described as a metallic green beetle approximately half an inch long. Common symptoms a tree may display when infected includes: canopy thinning, leafy sprouts shooting from the trunk or main branches, serpentine “S”-shaped galleries under the tree’s bark, bark splitting, woodpecker damage, and 1/8-inch “D”-shaped exit holes.

The Department of Agriculture recommends that residents with ash trees on their properties should consider their options if their trees become infested. They also say that firewood should be sourced locally to help stop the spread of the insect.

For more information on EAB and other tree pests in Iowa, click here .

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