Trapping the borer: Bug threatens Virginia's ash trees

Purple traps have been set up across the state to monitor the advance of the emerald ash borer, an invasive threat to ash trees throughout the country.

*Non-native tree killing pest! 

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, warns that if the pest is not contained and managed, "the impact of emerald ash borer in North America will be similar to that of the devastation caused by two fungal diseases, chestnut blight and Dutch elm disease, which destroyed dominant species of woodland and urban forests in the 20th century."

Read the article with photos here from The Roanoke Times and learn more about these destructive pests.  Ash trees represent about 1.6% of our forests in Virginia.
Photo Courtesy David Cappaert, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org