April - June, 2010
DON'T MOVE FIREWOOD!
Most of us wouldn't pick up hitchhikers along the road, but many of us unwittingly take them camping with us. Tree-killing pests such as emerald ash borers, Asian longhorned beetles and gypsy moths can hide in the wood we bring for campfires. It's easy to reduce the spread of these hitchhiking pests.
Missouri has always had its share of forest pests. Historically, these native insects and diseases posed little threat to our healthy forests because for thousands of years our native trees and other plants have evolved alongside them. Whenever a native pest developed a new method to attack, our forests responded by evolving new defense mechanisms. Non-native pests throw off this natural balance by bringing with them new methods of attack unfamiliar to our native trees and plants. Because our forests have not had time to evolve adequate defenses, they can become easy prey for exotic invaders. Take for instance the emerald ash borer. This metallic green beetle probably entered southeast Michigan as an unwanted hitchhiker in wooden packing materials used to ship goods from its native home in China and eastern Asia. The wormlike larvae of this tiny but destructive insect tunnel through native ash trees, eventually killing each tree they infest. To date, emerald ash borers have killed more than 25 million ash trees in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia. These tree-killing pests turned up in southeast Missouri in July 2008.
Don't bring firewood-use local wood
One way to keep emerald ash borers and other destructive pests from spreading is to avoid transporting firewood from one site to another. The best policy is to obtain firewood from a local source. If you have firewood that you didn't get locally, burn all of it as soon as possible. This will kill any pests that could be hiding in the wood.
Watch for exotic pests
Another thing we can do to keep Missouri's forests healthy is to watch out for exotic hitchhikers. Keep in mind that Missouri has its share of native pests, so finding a bug tunneling through your firewood isn't necessarily cause for alarm. Learning to separate the benign native bugs from the destructive exotic bugs is key to early detection of a potential problem. The following are a few of Missouri's least wanted visitors:
Emerald Ash Borer Asian Longhorned Beetle Gypsy Moth Sirex Wood Wasp
If you find one of these pests, let us know! Early detection is useful only when the problem is contained and eradicated. To help with this effort contact the Missouri Departments of Conservation or Agriculture should you find a suspect insect. Collect a sample by trapping the insect in a zippered plastic bag. Place the bag in the freezer for several days to kill the insect then mail the sample in a sturdy container (35mm film canisters work well) to one of the addresses shown on page 7. Be sure to include your contact information and the date and location where you captured the sample.
Source: MDC