The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
123 HUNTINGTON STREET, P.O. BOX 1106, NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT 06504
Putting Science to Work for Society
Protecting Agriculture, Public Health, and the Environment
Founded 1875
Phone: (203) 974-8500 Fax: (203) 974-8502
Toll Free: 1-(877) 855-2237
An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Dr. Kirby C. Stafford III, Ph.D Dr. Claire Rutledge, Ph.D.
Chief Scientist/State Entomologist Assistant Scientist II
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
123 Huntington Street 123 Huntington Street
P.O. Box 1106 P.O. Box 1106
New Haven, CT 06504 New Haven, CT 06504
Phone: (203) 974-8485 Phone: (203) 974-8484
EMERALD ASH BORER DISTRIBUTION EXPANDING IN CONNECTICUT
New Haven, CT - The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) announced today that the
emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) (EAB) infestation, largely centered in New Haven County, has
rapidly expanded into Fairfield, Hartford, Litchfield, and Middlesex Counties and has now been detected
in a total of 38 towns. The new towns where the beetle has been detected this year include: Ansonia,
Branford, Bristol, Clinton, Cromwell, Derby, Durham, Litchfield, Meriden, New Haven, North Haven,
Orange, Plainville, Rocky Hill, Seymour, Shelton, Thomaston, Trumbull, Wallingford, West Haven,
Wolcott, Woodbridge, Woodbury. The insects were previously found in Beacon Falls, Bethany, Cheshire,
Hamden, Middlebury, Naugatuck, Newtown, North Branford, Oxford, Prospect, Sherman, Southbury,
Southington, and Waterbury in 2012 or 2013. Additional detections are anticipated.
The emerald ash borer is a destructive insect and has been responsible for the death and decline of tens of
millions of ash trees from Colorado and the mid-west to New England and south to Georgia. Ash makes
up about 4% to 15% of Connecticut’s forests and represents about 2-3% of the urban trees in many
communities.
“Unfortunately, we are now seeing a lot of dead and dying ash in New Haven County and more ash trees
will die as a result of this expanding infestation” said State Entomologist Kirby C. Stafford III. When
EAB is found, municipalities and homeowners can assess their ash trees and plan for the impact of this
beetle. High value trees and lightly infested trees can be treated with systemic insecticides to protect them
against the emerald ash borer. Untreated ash trees will be lost and can die within 2-3 years once infested.
Ash trees quickly decline and become hazardous, requiring removal, depending upon their location and
risk to people and property.
“The spread of EAB within our state poses a severe and imminent threat to ash trees on both private and
public property,” said Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Rob Klee. “It
is critical for property owners to assess the condition of their ash trees and make decisions to treat trees
with appropriate chemicals to try to save them or to remove trees that pose safety risks. We also strongly
encourage property owners to utilize only licensed and insured professionals to either treat or remove their ash trees.”
Many EAB detections have been made by monitoring the ground-nesting, native wasp (Cerceris fumipennis), which hunts many wood-boring beetles, including the emerald ash borer. The wasp is an effective “biological surveillance” survey tool and does not sting people or pets according to Dr. Claire E. Rutledge, who runs the CAES survey program. In addition, purple detection traps have been set across Middlesex, Tolland, Windham, and New London counties by Thomas Worthley, University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System. The surveillance programs are supported by the USDA-APHIS-PPQ.
In Connecticut, quarantine had previously been established that regulates the movement of ash logs, ash materials, ash nursery stock, and hardwood firewood from within Fairfield, Hartford, Litchfield and New Haven Counties to any area outside of those counties to help slow the spread of the beetle. The quarantine currently applies to only those four counties and mirrors a federal quarantine also imposed on the four counties.
With the detection of EAB in Middlesex County and rapid expansion of the EAB infestation to five of the state’s eight counties, CAES plans to remove the state internal quarantine by adding Middlesex, New London, Tolland, and Windham counties to the existing EAB quarantine. Until that time, the current state and federal EAB quarantine is still in effect. A public hearing will be held in August at the CAES Griswold Research Center, 190 Sheldon Road, Griswold, CT 06351, on a date still to be determined.
Regulations also are in effect regulating the movement of firewood from out-of-state into Connecticut or within Connecticut. These regulations were put in place to ensure that other invasive insects, not just the emerald ash borer, are not carried into Connecticut through the shipment of firewood. These regulations are not influenced by the new EAB detections.
Detailed information about the current quarantine and the firewood regulations can be found at www.ct.gov/deep/eab or www.ct.gov/caes.
The emerald ash borer is a regulated plant pest under federal (7 CFR 301.53) and state (CT Gen. Statute Sec. 22-84-5d, e, and f) regulations. For more information about the EAB, please visit the following website: www.emeraldashborer.info. A fact sheet providing guidelines on the treatment of ash trees to protect them from EAB is also available at www.ct.gov/caes.
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Phone: (203) 974-8500 Fax: (203) 974-8502
Toll Free: 1-(877) 855-2237
An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer
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