I saw my first purple traps in the Adk mountains saturday.

Wish I could say I saw my first one, too, but I can't. They've been hanging around here for apx. two years now. Personally, I think it's a waste of tax dollars...though on the other hand it lets 'em know how far the bug is moving.

I'm with YooperWife. The gov't spends in the name of 'saving trees' but the huge bulk of them went to the chippers, lowest value use.

If you have Ash east of the Mississippi I'd plan how to make the best use of them. The largest trees, 24" and up go first. To my way of thinking Timber, then firewood, then chip the 3" and smaller stuff.

Also once the Ash bore is in your area, a good saw should pay for itself pretty darn quick, like 1-2 days cutting.

ATB,
Mike

The traps showed up here this spring - central PA. I think it is a good use of tax dollars to track the emerald ash borer. It may not save any trees, but we need to know what is going on with the bugs.

This is the 2nd year I've seen them in the Franklin/St. Lawrence counties area.

Tarmsolo60 said:

This is the 2nd year I've seen them in the Franklin/St. Lawrence counties area.

Click to expand...

Tarm I'm starting to see more in the colton area this year also.

zap

Ya know I was REALLY confused reading this thread until I realize it was traps not tarps in the subject Try reading it tarps and try to make sense of the first couple posts and you may get a little bit of a laugh too.

Took me a few posts to figure out what the traps were supposed to trap. Haven't seen anything like this in my neck of the woods, but I rarely have the luxury to go for a hike anymore.

Bummer about this since one of my favorite trees in my yard is a (to me) huge Ash. Its great looking because the trunk is arrow straight, about 18-20" at the base and the branches are very close to perfect symmetry almost the entire height. I'll have to snap a few pics before the borers get it and I have to take it down. Must be 45-50 feet tall.

Around here, the purple traps set for emerald ash borer seem to be only along the roadside, which makes sense - easy to deploy and easy to retrieve.

mayhem said:

Took me a few posts to figure out what the traps were supposed to trap. Haven't seen anything like this in my neck of the woods, but I rarely have the luxury to go for a hike anymore.

Bummer about this since one of my favorite trees in my yard is a (to me) huge Ash. Its great looking because the trunk is arrow straight, about 18-20" at the base and the branches are very close to perfect symmetry almost the entire height. I'll have to snap a few pics before the borers get it and I have to take it down. Must be 45-50 feet tall.

Click to expand...

How is the new job going?

zap

^^ Excellent, thanks for asking. The place is a mess but I'm wading through it all and getting the computer systems back into shape.

The best part about it all is I have NO work related stress. I get to wear jeans to work and with a golf shirt I'm one of the more fancy dressed people in the plant. Of course now I've got $1100 worth of dress clothing from the old job thats just sitting in the closet.

mayhem said:

^^ Excellent, thanks for asking. The place is a mess but I'm wading through it all and getting the computer systems back into shape.

The best part about it all is I have NO work related stress. I get to wear jeans to work and with a golf shirt I'm one of the more fancy dressed people in the plant. Of course now I've got $1100 worth of dress clothing from the old job thats just sitting in the closet.

Click to expand...

Glad to hear that, have a good weekend cutting with family.

zap

Have seen several in NE Ohio the past few years. Unfortunately in my opinion they are there for show.

I too get emotional when I see purple tarps. The gov't just does not know how to accessorize!

No really, I am afraid of the inevitable. I don't get to see too many ash's around here, but the ones I see I think are fairly majestic and I'd hate to see them gone....well, unless they ended up in my stacks.

Good data produces nice maps.

BeGreen said:

They're their to track the spread and to verify the quantity of the ash borer. Not a waste of money, this is good data.

Click to expand...

I have to agree. Knowledge is key. I often disagree with how the WDNR handles things, and I do disagree with their approach on EAB. However, I don't have an issue with the traps. I did find it interesting this weekend when I was in far northern Wisconsin, I noticed a few traps. Kind of interesting, because finding an ash in northern WI is not an easy task. Primarily pine, birch, and maple up there. Down in southern WI, it will be a real shame when the ash start to go, as they are a large % of the woodlands around here.

I heard that MN is considering introducing an invasive wasp from So. America that eats EAB larvae. I have no idea if there is any truth to it. An invasive to fight an invasive sounds risky.

the_dude said:

BeGreen said:

They're their to track the spread and to verify the quantity of the ash borer. Not a waste of money, this is good data.

Click to expand...

I have to agree. Knowledge is key. I often disagree with how the WDNR handles things, and I do disagree with their approach on EAB. However, I don't have an issue with the traps. I did find it interesting this weekend when I was in far northern Wisconsin, I noticed a few traps. Kind of interesting, because finding an ash in northern WI is not an easy task. Primarily pine, birch, and maple up there. Down in southern WI, it will be a real shame when the ash start to go, as they are a large % of the woodlands around here.

I heard that MN is considering introducing an invasive wasp from So. America that eats EAB larvae. I have no idea if there is any truth to it. An invasive to fight an invasive sounds risky.

Click to expand...

That sounds to me like another "killer bee" situation waiting to happen.

Wow I had no idea how close this thing is getting to me. I live in Southeast PA about 30 minutes west of Philly. My parents have nothing but Ash trees on there land! Big ones too! A few are probably close to 100 feet tall and about 4 feet at the base. Just mammoth looking trees. And all these big trees are right behind their house! It would be sad to see these trees go, although I would have a lot of firewood.

What are some signs that the Ash borer has hit? What should I look out for?

dannynelson77 said:

Wow I had no idea how close this thing is getting to me.

Click to expand...

And that is a map dated 2009 produced by a state agency. Here is what the sob looks like http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/45428.html. There is a whole bunch of info on that website. None of it very heart warming unless you are a wood burner.

As far as I know the three parasitic wasps are all from China. Two of them attack the EAB larvae and one attacks the eggs of EAB. These ultimately kill the larvae or eggs. Testing has shown that they are very specific to EAB larvae and haven't shown any propensity to attack other larvae. That's not to say that they couldn't in nature, but even in Chinese studies they aren't being found in other Agrilus sp. (EAB genus) in the wild. So, there is very little evidence to suggest that these wasps could become a problem. They DO NOT sting humans and are relatively small insects. They are very specific to EAB and have the timing of their reproductive cycles to coincide with EAB larval and egg stages. These will not however, eliminate EAB but only reduce their numbers to levels that we may be able to live with because once their food source (EAB larvae) is lowered so will their numbers.

We have traps here as well, just across the border from the UP of Michigan. The EAB is here, and primarily is attacking maple varieties - not the cash crop sugar maples but ornamental and native varieties like the Manitoba maple. The introduction of the wasp may result in a cyclical infestation like we see here with tent caterpillars. A 7 to 10 year cycle of increasing numbers followed by a steep decline, then repeat. Right now we are on the upswing with caterpillars, and I am seeing more in the yard and woods.

Another invasive, the Garlic Mustard plant, has much more potential for destruction of habitat for our hardwoods. For those of us involved in actively conserving our sustainable hardwood forests, the mustard plant is much more of a threat than the EAB.

Medman said:

We have traps here as well, just across the border from the UP of Michigan. The EAB is here, and primarily is attacking maple varieties - not the cash crop sugar maples but ornamental and native varieties like the Manitoba maple.

Click to expand...

I thought EAB was totally specific to Ash trees??

No offense to anyone's input, but I want to set the record straight that if we are talking about the Emerald Ash Borer then they are very specific to ash trees. The EAB larvae has not been found in any other tree but ash. If you do find one in any other tree, please bring it to the attention of your state Department of Agriculture. It would create quite a stir in the scientific community. The galleries created by EAB larvae are S-shaped which helps to ID them under the bark. If it is another borer infesting the tree, the galleries will be somewhat different. Another identifying characteristic of EAB larvae is the "bell-shaped" segments of the larvae. They look like the segments are a bunch of little bells attached to each other top to bottom. Hope this helps.