Why is EAB important?
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About EAB: What it is, how it got here and why we care


Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) is an invasive, wood boring beetle. It kills ash trees (Fraxinus spp) by eating the tissues under the bark.
This metallic green beetle is native to East Asia. It was brought to the United States accidentally, in the wood of shipping crates from China.

EAB kills ash trees and Wisconsin has a lot of ash trees

EAB is not a threat to human health but it kills our native ash trees of any size, any age, healthy or unhealthy, (according to research by Michigan State University and the US Forest Service).

The larva (the immature stage of EAB) spends its life inside ash trees, feeding on the inner bark where we cannot see it. This feeding disrupts the trees' ability to move water and nutrients back and forth from the roots to the rest of the tree. The tree starves and eventually dies.

A tree that has been attacked by EAB can die within 2-4 years. It is estimated that more than 50 million ash trees are dead or dying in the Midwest because of this insect.

Wisconsin forests contain more than 770 million ash trees, nearly 7 percent of the tree population. In urban areas, we estimate that, on average, 20 percent of trees are ash.

EAB moves far by hitching rides
On its own, the beetle will only fly a few miles. However, it is easily and quickly moved to new areas when people accidentally move emerald ash borer larvae inside of infested firewood, ash nursery stock, and other ash items.



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