White fringe tree. Photo courtesy Monrovia.com
A researcher at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, has found evidence of emerald ash borer on the native white fringe tree in at least four locations in the Buckeye state.
White fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) is a small, fragrant, understory tree in the southeast and Midwest United States and is used as a late-spring blooming ornamental in landscapes.
Emerald ash borer. Photo courtesy Purdue University
The thin, metallic, emerald ash borer, which has no natural control, already is responsible for killing at least 50 million ash trees (Fraxinus spp.), including thousands in Indiana. The Asian insect, first detected in the Detroit area in 2002, is predicted to kill the continent’s nearly 9 billion ash trees, causing an estimated $10 billion in damage by 2019.
Frequently called EAB, it “may have a wider host range than we ever thought in the first place, or it is adapting to utilize new hosts,” said Don Cipollini, a biology professor who has been researching this bug for nearly 10 years. “This biological invasion (of EAB) is really something to worry about. It’s having drastic ecological and economic consequences, and you can’t always predict what’s going to happen.”
Although different species, ash and fringe trees are in the Oleacaeae family, which also includes olive, lilac, forsythia and privet.
The detections on fringe trees were in areas with high density of emerald ash borers, said Cliff Sadof, a professor of entomology and EAB expert at Purdue University. Sadof heard Cipollini’s report at the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service conference in Wooster, Ohio.
High populations of EAB are where more than 50 percent of untreated ash trees are dying. “This includes most of the Indianapolis area,” he said. “I don’t think we need to panic at this point. It is real, but we don’t know if it reproduces on this (fringe) tree.”
A federal working group will be discussing this issue to determine implications of this new information to the regulatory and detection aspects of the EAB program, Sadof said.
Emerald ash borer exit hole. Photo courtesy Purdue University.
Meantime, he recommends keeping an eye open for sickly looking native fringe trees where emerald ash borer activity is high. One distinctive sign is the tiny D exit hole, which may be easier to spot on smaller trees and shrubs than on large ash trees. Report findings to 866-NOEXOTIC (866-663-9684). Here’s more info on EAB.