The emerald ash borer, a small, highly destructive wood-boring beetle that's been devastating ash trees throughout the northeastern U.S., was recently found in Berks County.
Sven-Erik Spichiger, entomology program manager at the state Department of Agriculture, said Thursday that it's only a matter of time before it arrives in neighboring counties.
"I would be surprised if we did not find it in Schuylkill County this year," Spichiger said.
A sample collected by Alan Deppen of the state Department of Agriculture from Berks County on Interstate 78 near Bernville was confirmed positive for the EAB on April 10.
"It was a roadside tree," Spichiger said. "One of our surveyors was out and stopped to investigate a tree. He was able to extract some larvae."
Spichiger said that soon they will all be completely grown, flying adults and the PDA expects to find them in more counties.
Currently, it has been found in 49 counties in Pennsylvania.
According to newspaper archives, while the beetles originated from their native eastern Asia, the pest is said to most likely have arrived in North America in wooden shipping crates.
It was discovered in 2002 near Detroit, Mich., and the first confirmed detection in Pennsylvania was June 2007 in Butler and Allegheny counties.
In a July 2011 story in The Republican-Herald, Spichiger said the species is systematically wiping out every ash tree in North America and the population has expanded beyond a controllable level.
According to information from the PDA, eggs are laid between layers of bark and in bark crevices, then the larvae hatch within one week and bore into the tree, where they feed on the inner bark and phloem, creating S-shaped galleries.
Larvae go through three feeding stages then excavate a pupal chamber in the fall, where they overwinter.
When they emerge as adults around May or June, EABs leave D-shaped holes in the bark about 1/8-inch wide.
The beetles are also the reason why pyramid-shaped purple traps were placed around not only Schuylkill County but also statewide starting in 2008 in an effort to try to detect its presence.
Coated with a glue-like substance, the traps were meant to capture the adult beetles, which can fly at least a half-mile from the tree where they emerge, and the purple color tricked the insects as it senses that color's wavelengths as coming from an ash tree.
The EAB is also the main reason why people have been told to use local firewood, to not bring firewood into the state and if you already transported the wood, burn it but do not take it home.
As the beetles aggressively moved across Pennsylvania, the in-state quarantine - initially intended to slow the pest's spread - became unnecessary and was lifted in April 2011, but a federal quarantine remained in effect to help stop the spread into other states.
Susan Hyland, Master Gardener coordinator with the Penn State Cooperative Extension in Schuylkill County, said Tuesday that the beetles are not considered strong flyers, so that is not how they have moved around.
"They probably only fly about a quarter of a mile in their lifetime," Hyland said. "The way they get moved around are people."
Hyland said that if someone has a tree that they think might be infected by them and want to save the tree, the Penn State Cooperative Extension can direct them to foresters and arborists in the county who can give a professional evaluation. She said they are essentially "tree doctors."
For large trees infected by the beetles, it usually takes one to three years for them to die.
Spichiger said that the PDA provides information to homeowners on its website about treatment for ash trees, available by going to www.agriculture.state.pa.us and searching "Homeowners Guide to Emerald Ash Borer Treatment."
While individual ash trees can be treated, nearly nothing can be done for an entire forest of them.
"Unfortunately, if you have them, it's not cost effective to treat the tree," Spichiger said. "If they do choose to treat, that is a long-term commitment. You have to treat for the life of the tree."
Those that are visited by the EAB have a 99 percent mortality rate, Spichiger said.
To report possible infested trees in Pennsylvania, contact the PDA at 866-253-7189.
For more information about the emerald ash borer and possible treatment, contact the Penn State Cooperative Extension at 570-622-4225 or SchuylkillExt@psu.edu.