Ag department to begin trapping across state for emerald ash borer

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The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is preparing to hang thousands of traps across Minnesota in the hunt for emerald ash borer (EAB). State workers will begin the job during the week of April 2.

Approximately 6,500 purple detection traps will be placed throughout the state in the search for EAB. This is about two-thousand more traps than hung in 2011. The trap is a three-paneled purple prism placed in an ash tree, a lure inside the trap smells like a stressed ash tree to the beetle. Once EAB is drawn to the purple detection trap, a sticky layer on the outside of the trap holds the beetle until MDA’s trappers can return and check for the insect.

Traps will be placed in areas identified by a risk-based model developed by the United States Department of Agriculture. If required, EAB traps may be placed on private property. Citizens are asked not to disturb traps.

“This trapping survey is one of the few options we have for detecting EAB,” said Geir Friisoe, MDA’s Plant Protection Division Director. “That’s why it is so important that the public leaves the traps as they are so we can collect accurate and useful results.”

The trapping program has proven effective in the past. In August 2011, EAB was found in Winona County because of a positive find in a trap. Results of the survey will help MDA staff determine if any further action is needed to slow the spread of EAB.

Traps will not be placed in the four counties currently under quarantine for EAB: Houston, Winona, Hennepin and Ramsey. The main purpose of the survey is to detect new areas of infestation that should be quarantined to prevent spread from the area. When an area becomes quarantined, it is illegal to move all hardwood firewood and ash wood out of the quarantine boundaries.

Questions about the traps and the trapping program can be directed to arrest.the.pest@state.mn.us or 888-545-6684. For more details about emerald ash borer, visit the MDA website at www.mda.state.mn.us/eab .

Residents are encouraged to watch for signs of EAB on their ash trees. Potential signs of EAB include woodpecker damage, especially at the top of the tree; bark cracks or splits; s-shaped galleries under the bark; and, die-back of leaves in the upper one-third of the tree branches.

Tags: news, updates, eab, tree