Sunday, January 4, 2009

In the News


I came across this article by Kyran Pittman entitled Top 25 things vanishing from America: #17 -- The ash tree. It's about the plight of the American ash (Fraxinus spp.) which is quickly being eradicated by the Emerald ash borer. To learn more about this killer insect, visit the Emerald Ash Borer website. It provides more detailed information on the biology and identification of the beetle, the trees it attacks, where the outbreaks are occuring and what can be done to fight this pest.



Photo from Emerald Ash Borer website

The Emerald Ash Borer is about 1/2-inch long and is native to Asia. It is believed that it came to America accidentally carried in wood. Wikipedia tells us that it is responsible for killing over 25 million ash trees in this country. It is already in ten US states including: Illinois; Indiana; Maryland; Michigan; Missouri; Ohio; Pennsylvania; Virginia; Wisconsin; and West Virginia; as well as in southern Ontario, Canada.


While on the subject of bugs, there is one more website that my children and I have relied upon for years. It's called What's that Bug? If you want to know what that bug is that is crawling around in your backyard, this is your go-to place to identify it and to learn more about it.

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