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Emerald Ash Borer Background Information

Section Three

How did EAB get here, and how is it spread?

Inspecting solid wood packing material in Costa Rica

Cargo ship on the Panama Canal

Scientists can’t say for sure, but they believe that EAB probably “hitchhiked” to this country in solid wood packing material in the early 1990s.  Solid wood packing material includes wooden crates, pallets, and dunnage used to stabilize cargo on ships that contain goods imported from Asian countries. 

This scenario is possible because the EAB larvae and pupae live inside the wood of ash trees.  Some of the larvae and pupae can survive the process of chopping down a tree, cutting it into lumber, and building a crate.  They can be shipped, along with the cargo contained in the crate, to other countries. 

The beetles emerge from the crate and into trees close by.  EAB adults do not fly very fast or very far, usually moving no further than a ½ mile from where they emerge.  The primary movement of the borer is through infested ash wood products such as firewood or ash debris that is transported by people. More info on EAB website