Local Video
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| Speedy beetle mistaken for tree-killing relative |
By: JIM HAMMERAND, Staff Writer
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Posted: Friday, June 19, 2009 10:54 pm
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NORTHFIELD — Metallic green bugs resembling an infamous ash-killing beetle have resulted in numerous false sightings in Northfield.
Though Streets and Parks Supervisor TJ Heinricy calls the emerald ash borer “unmistakable,” one look-alike in particular has caused concern among some residents that the Asian beetle invasion has reached Northfield.
State and local agencies have been on high alert since May, when the ash borer was spotted 35 miles north of Northfield in St. Paul. The insect, responsible for killing tens of millions of trees in the United States and Canada, is now eyeing Minnesota’s 937 million ash trees.
“It’s right in our backyard now,” Heinricy said. He estimated up to 30 percent of the trees in Northfield are ash, and said he would initiate insecticide-spraying on the bark of vulnerable trees downtown.
But the iridescent insect recently spotted in Northfield prefers a diet of ants, not ash, said University of Minnesota urban etymologist Jeff Hahn. It’s also one of the fastest-running of all insects.
“If you are walking down a path of some sort and see a flash of green in front of you, you can bet it’s a six-spotted tiger beetle,” he said.
The beetle — Cicindela sexguttata — is native to the lower two-thirds of Minnesota and appears in May, June and July, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Other insects, from cicadas to stink bugs and even other species of wood-boring beetles, are frequently confused with the emerald ash borer in reports to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Hahn said.
But none is as interesting as the six-spotted tiger beetle, so named for its tendency to stalk prey and the spots which may — or may not — adorn its back.
Using their bulging eyes and massive, saw-toothed jaws, they hunt and ambush other insects and spiders. When startled by a predator, they’ll spread the wings that lay beneath their shiny shell and take flight.
“They’re very challenging to get close to,” Hahn said of the beetle, a fan favorite of insect enthusiasts. “It’ll fly, land and then turn around and look right at you.”
The bagged specimen on Heinricy’s desk is such an insect. He said a resident captured the bug intact and insisted that it was an emerald ash borer.
The city’s handled at least a dozen calls from residents, Heinricy said, a third of which have been classified as possible sightings. None have been confirmed.
But the false-sightings shouldn’t cause property-owners to be any less vigilant in reporting possible infestations, Hahn said.
“One of these times it is going to be an emerald ash borer,” he said.
— Staff Writer Jim Hammerand may be reached at jhammerand@northfieldnews.com or 645-1114.
Do you have emerald ash borer?
The state offers a checklist to determine whether you’ve spotted an emerald ash borer (EAB) or EAB infestation:
1) I think a tree may be infested with EAB.
Go to step 3.
2) I suspect I have seen an EAB.
Go to step 5.
3) Is my tree an ash? Review this guide: www.mda.state.mn.us/news/publications/ext/ashtreeid.pdf
Yes: go to 4.
No: go to 7.
4) Does my ash tree have symptoms of EAB? Review this guide: www.emeraldashborer.info/files/E-2938.pdf
Yes: go to 5.
No: go to 7.
5) Are the insects EAB look-alikes? Review the chart on the front page of this Northfield News.
No or don’t know: go to 6.
Yes: go to 7.
6) It could be EAB. Contact treeinfo@umn.edu or 612-624-3020 to find an EAB First Detector near you.
7) It isn’t EAB; so, what is it? Diagnose the problem at the University of Minnesota Extension’s “What’s Wrong With My Plant” Web site at www.extension.umn.edu/gardeninfo/diagnostics/deciduous/ash/index.html
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