(Go Back)Tree-Killing Insects

Currently, four kinds of tree-killing insects are infesting American forests. The emerald ash borer has been found from the Great Lakes to Michigan and Ohio, while the Asian long-horned beetle has been found on both coasts and in Chicago. The hemlock woolly adelgid is infesting hemlocks in New England and headed south; while the pine bark beetle is infesting pines in the West.

The four are all examples of introduced pests - insects that made their way to America from other counties through shipping containers or pallet wood. Domestic insects, like carpenter ants and termites, will attack trees that are under stress, so taking care of trees in urban landscapes lessen the stress and therefore lessen the chances that they will be attacked.

Introduced pests, however, attack no matter what. There are some treatments. The challenge is that the applications have to be done over a wide area. Treating your tree serves no useful purpose if your neighbor or the city park a block over doesn't treat the trees there.

The best advice? Find out what the situation is in your area, through your local agricultural extension service. Treat your trees if you can; get your neighbors to treat theirs, and demand that your government treat trees in your local parks.

After all, we no longer have Dutch elm and chestnut trees.