Catching up on some news from before the Christmas season ....
Researchers at Wright State University in Ohio believe the emerald ash borer, which has killed millions of our native ash trees, is now attacking our native fringe trees (Chionanthus virginicus). The fringe tree is prized for its airy white flowers that appear in spring, and it won a Gold Medal Award from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society just last year.
Professor Don Cippollini of Wright, who has studied the ash borer for the past 10 years, found larvae of the insect on fringe trees near his home in southwestern Ohio. He said that the ash borer may have a wider host range than originally thought, or else it may be adapting to new hosts. "This biological invasion," he said, "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 efforts are underway to control the insect with pesticides and parasitoid wasps, Cippolini says it is hard to stop because it has now reached such high densities. It's believe the ash borer was introduced into the United States in shipping crates from Asia in 2002.
Fringe trees grow in the wild from New Jersey south to Florida and west to Oklahoma and Texas, and it's also a popular ornamental tree, at just around 12-20 feet tall at maturity and not generally subject to pests or disease. If you notice a borer exit hole -- a "D" shape in the bark of a fringe tree -- please report it immediately.
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