T
he 2018 emerald ash borer trapping season has come to
a close. Nearly 700 traps were set in Nebraska, primarily
in the eastern third of the state. The trapping program was a
joint effort of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and
the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA set traps based
on a national model developed by the U.S. Forest Service,
while NDA focused trapping efforts on locations at high risk
for introduction and establishment, primarily campgrounds
and state parks.
In June 2018, NDA discovered a single adult EAB
specimen in a trap at a campground in Eugene T. Mahoney
State Park. A second adult was later collected from the same
trap. Mahoney State Park is located in Cass County, which
had previously been declared infested after EAB was found
in Greenwood in 2016.
In August 2018, a local arborist contacted NDA to report
a suspect tree in Fremont in Dodge County. NDA staff met
with the arborist, inspected the tree, and found D-shaped
exit holes and serpentine larval galleries, classic signs of an
EAB infestation. EAB had not been previously confirmed in
Dodge County.
A trap set by USDA in Lincoln caught a single adult
specimen, which was confirmed in mid-August. This was the
first confirmation of EAB in Lancaster County.
EAB was first discovered in the United States in Michigan
in 2002. Since that time, it has been confirmed in 35 states,
including Nebraska. Nebraska's first EAB infestation was
confirmed in Omaha in early June 2016 by Omaha City
Forestry staff, who found EAB larval galleries in an ash tree
in Pulaski Park. A homeowner reported EAB-infested trees
soon after in Greenwood, Nebraska.
NDA enacted the Nebraska EAB Quarantine on June
8, 2016, to slow the spread of the pest. Based on the
new findings in 2018, NDA revised the Nebraska EAB
quarantine effective Nov. 1, 2018. Lancaster, Otoe and
Saunders counties joined Cass, Dodge, Douglas, Sarpy and
Washington as quarantine counties.
The quarantine prohibits the movement of hardwood
firewood from quarantine counties to non-quarantine
counties, unless the firewood is certified by NDA. Other
regulated materials include all hardwood mulch/chips, ash
nursery stock, ash lumber or any part of an ash tree. For
more information on the Nebraska EAB quarantine, visit
nda.nebraska.gov/plant/entomology/eab/index.html. ■
By Julie Van Meter
State Entomologist, Nebraska
Department of Agriculture
Nearly 700 emerald ash borer traps were set in Nebraska.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NICOLE RAMIREZ, NDA
Adult Emerald Ash Borer.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID CAPPAERT, BUGWOOD.ORG
Nebraska EAB Update
DECEMBER 2018 • NEBRASKAland 17
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