Tree Pests
Tree Pests is a collaborative effort of several state and federal agencies to keep citizens informed of the latest invasive insect and disease threats to Missouri's trees. Whether it is a single tree in your yard or acres of woodlands on your property, this site is for you.
Do you know that humans are a primary way these invasive pests are spread? It's true! Whether through moving firewood or wood to make furniture and crafts, we enable these hitchhiking freeloaders to spread from infected areas to noninfected ones. The "Slow the spread" Web pages for each pest contain the latest tips on how you can help us in the fight against these invasive threats.
EAB update
Texas recently announced they are the 26th state to confirm the presence of the emerald ash borer. Here in Missouri, twelve more counties have confirmed reports of EAB. With the exception of Clinton and Ray, the new finds are in Southeast Missouri. The 12 new counties are: Carter, Clinton, Dent, Iron, Phelps, Ray, Ripley, Shannon, Ste. Genevieve, St. Francois, Stoddard, and Texas.
Most counties south of the Missouri River, are at the peak of EAB activity. The exception is the Bootheel where beetle activity should be declining. Counties north of the Missouri River are just days away from peak activity.
With the emergence of the adults and females laying eggs, larval development will follow in the coming weeks. As the larvae grow and develop, they will disrupt the tree’s ability to move water up from the roots to the leaves and nutrients from the leaves back down to the roots. This disruption, coupled with the extremely dry conditions might lead to infected trees showing signs of stress sooner rather than later.
Also, woodpeckers searching for a meal will peck away layers of the outer bark in an effort to reach the larvae. This leads to what the experts refer to as ‘blonding’.