Emerald Ash Borer Spreads To Peoria And Tazewell Counties

(Lewistown, IL) -- Emerald Ash Borer has been confirmed in both Peoria and Tazewell counties. On July 25th, the Illinois Department of Agriculture announced the detections occurred in residential areas of the two central Illinois counties. In Peoria County, arborists discovered the beetle first near Dunlap and then subsequently in Peoria. In Tazewell County, IDOA staff made the find in Minier using surveillance traps. The Emerald Ash Borer is a small, metallic-green beetle native to Asia. Its larvae burrow into the bard of Ash trees, causing the trees to starve and eventually die. Since the first detection of the pest near Detroit, Michigan in 2002, it has killed an estimated 250-million Ash trees. The Emerald Ash Borer often is difficult to detect in newly-infested trees. Signs of infestation include thinning and yellowing leaves, D-shaped holes in the bark of the trunk and branches and basal shoots.