State announces expanded Asian beetle quarantine
The Ohio Department of Agriculture has announced the addition of 268 contiguous parcels to an Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) quarantine zone in Clermont County.
The addition increases the total sq. miles regulated for the beetle to 61 sq. miles, up from 56 sq. miles. The movement of hardwood logs, firewood, stumps, roots and branches within these regulated areas is prohibited.
Discovered in July by an alert property owner, the center of the Stonelick Township infestation is on Possum Hollow Road in Clermont County.
State and federal officials cite the movement of firewood in 2010 from Tate Township, prior to the current ALB quarantine zone being established, as the source of the new discovery. The 268 parcels represent all land located within one mile of the ALB infestation.
A map of the affected properties within Stonelick and Batavia townships is available at www.agri.ohio.gov.
United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) and ODA inspection crews are surveying the surrounding areas to determine the extent of the ALB infestation. Crews are inspecting host tree species susceptible to ALB for signs of the wood-boring beetle using ground surveyors and specially trained tree climbers.
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Property owners with infested trees will be notified in advance of any ALB eradication activities on their property. The quarantine restricts the movement of hardwood logs, firewood, stumps, roots and branches out of the quarantine area and also restricts the sale of nursery stock, green lumber, and logs of the following trees: maples, horse chestnut, buckeye, mimosa, birch, hackberry, ash, golden raintree, katsura, sycamore, poplar, willow, mountain ash, and elms.
Regulated boundaries are established to help prevent the movement of host material to areas not known to be infested with the pest. ODA and USDA APHIS will continue to work with state and local partners to survey for ALB and restrict the movement of regulated material to prevent the spread of the insect.
The public can assist the eradication effort by allowing program officials access to their property to evaluate susceptible trees for any signs of ALB infestation.
Adult ALBs are large, shiny black insects with white spots measuring 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, not including antennae. Their white-banded antennae can be as long as the body itself in females and almost twice the body length in males.
Signs of infestation include perfectly round exit holes (about 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diameter) made by adult beetles when they emerge from trees; the pockmarks on tree trunks and branches where female beetles deposit eggs; frass (wood shavings and saw dust) produced by larvae feeding and tunneling; early fall coloration of leaves or dead branches, and running sap produced by the tree at the egg laying sites, or in response to larval tunneling.
For questions regarding the regulated area, or to report signs or symptoms of ALB, residents should please call the Ohio ALB Cooperative Eradication Program Office at 513-381-7180 or report online at www.BeetleBusters.info.