Detecting the Invasive Emerald Ash Borer in CT: Casting a wide net!

Jenna Klinck, UCONN Natural Resource Management and Engineering student,
hoists a purple trap used to detect Emerald Ash Borer on the property.

Olfactory bait packets used to attract Buprestid beetles, which includes the Emerald Ash Borer.

Buprestid beetle (center) and other forest insects stuck to the side of the trap used to detect Emerald Ash Borer. 

Emerald Ash Borer is the latest invasive forest pest expanding to threaten New England forest trees, specifically ash species.  A cooperative team of scientists are trying to detect Emerald Ash Borer in Connecticut, including the UCONN Cooperative Extension Service, CT Agriculture Experiment Station, and CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.  The tools used to capture EAB in CT are purple traps suspended in trees along roads and looks like box kites.  There are scent packets suspended in the center of the traps that mimic the smell of a dying ash tree.  The outer surface of the traps have a sticky glue that captures the insects.  The traps are visited periodically to insure they stay in the tree canopy and to glean the glued surfaces for any insects that resemble EAB for further identification in the lab. For more information about the purple trap project click here or visit this other website for more details about the statewide effort.