What is the emerald ash borer?
 
The emerald ash borer is an invasive, boring beetle from northeast Asia that has killed millions of ash trees since its introduction to the United States in the early 2000s. They are roughly 1/2 inch long and 1/8 inch wide and metallic emerald-green with a cylndrical body. Females can lay up to 100 eggs. Emerald ash borer causes severe environmental damage, including destroying habitat by changing forest and riparian zone diversity, increases fire risk from dead trees, and results in high economic costs related to insecticide treatments and the removal/replacement of dead trees.
Where are emerald ash borers?
 
As of December, 2018, over 30 states have detected emerald ash borer infestations. It was discovered in traps deployed in northeastern Texas in early 2016. In addition to Harrison County, adults have since been found in Marion and Cass Counties, and infested ash trees were found in Texas for the first time in Tarrant County in 2018. Click here for the current distribution map.
![]() ![]() 1/2 inch long and 1/8 inch wide, metallic emerald green in coloration. Can be distinguished from other similar boring beetles by the disinctive reddish top surface of their abdomen (under the wings). Females lay 50-100 eggs in bark crevices. (Photo: David Cappaert [top], Howard Russell, both Bugwood.org) |
![]() As the emerald ash borer larvae feed, the canopy leaves die from the top down. The feeding larvae also trigger new branches and shoots on trunk and branches. (Photo: Daniel Herms, Bugwood.org) |
![]() Larvae burow into the phloem (under the bark) and sapwood, creating S-shaped galeries under the bark and blocking nutrient flow. This eventually kills the tree. (Photo: James W. Smith, USDA APHIS PPQ, Bugwood.org) |
Report a sighting
We need your help to stop the spread of emerald ash borer! Please report any new sightings of dead or dying ash trees or the beetles themselves, and if possible, take a picture of the ash tree or borer and record its GPS location.
Get involved in saving ash trees
Assist officials in identifying the location of ash trees so that they can be monitored. Join the Lady Bird Johnson Wildlflower Center in collecting ash tree lcoations, so that ash seeds can be collected and banked for safe keeping.