No, it’s not a lost kite

They aren’t Chinese lanterns. They aren’t abandoned kites caught in the gnarled fingers of the uppermost branches. Those purple things hanging in trees across Connecticut are actually bug traps.The emerald ash borer (EAB), a beetle native to eastern Asia, has invaded the eastern part of the United States. The bugs kill ash trees. Adults deposit their larvae one by one into the tree. The larvae feed on the inner bark. When they are fully formed adults and ready to emerge, they burrow out head first, creating a D-shaped exit hole.Once a tree is infested, it will most likely die within three to five years.“Ash trees are an important component of forestry,” said Thomas Worthley, stewardship program forester for the University of Connecticut’s (UConn) Cooperative Extension Program. “There are several products and cultural uses of ash such as furniture, basket-making and baseball bats. Where would we be this time of year without our Louisville Sluggers?”Worthley also explained that other species, such as birds, depend on ash trees as an exclusive part of their life cycle. If ash trees were wiped out, other parts of the ecosystem might go as well, said Worthley.So far Connecticut has remained clear of the boring beetle, but traps have been set up, beginning in Mansfield and heading west, by UConn’s Cooperative Extension Program, a part of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resource’s Center for Land Use Education and Research. The USDA is in charge of the EAB Trapping Program nationwide.“We’re trying to have several traps in each town,” said Worthley.The insects have been found in Saugerties, N.Y., which is about 25 miles west of Connecticut’s Northwest Corner. At their adult stage, the EAB can migrate about a half-mile, but they are spread mostly by humans.Worthley explained that transporting firewood, lumber or nursery stock causes the beetles to spread.In fact, it is suspected that they got to the United States — Detroit, Mich., to be exact — by humans.“The larval form of the insect was in wooden packing material sent to the Detroit area and spread from there,” said Worthley.So far, the EAB has been found in Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Tennessee, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and parts of Canada.Worthley explained that if the EAB is found in the box traps, the area goes under a quarantine, which would involve limiting the movement of wood.The boxes are designed to be attractive to the bugs. Scientific studies showed that the EAB was most attracted to the color purple. Inside the box is a sticky substance called manuka oil.“It’s a pheromone lure designed to smell like a stressed ash tree,” Worthley said.Ash trees only cover about 3 percent of forested land in Connecticut, so there are three to four boxes about 75 feet apart wherever there may be a cluster of ash trees.The UConn Cooperative Extension Program will check the boxes, which have been up since May, once a month. The last inspection will be sometime in August or September. Worthley advises anyone who suspects an infestation to take a photo of the tree and, if possible, the insect. Send photos to the State Entomologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, a branch of the USDA, by email to CAES.StateEntomologist@ct.gov or call 203-974-8474.

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