The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), which is virtually lethal to the common ash in Europe, has not yet been detected in Latvia, but the situation must be constantly monitored, Sandra Zandere, a representative of the State Plant Protection Service (VAAD), told Latvian Television on 19 August.
For several years now, monitoring for the emerald ash borer has been carried out in areas where ash trees grow. Traps are set in the trees at a height of several metres.
The natural origin of the emerald ash borer is East Asia – China, Taiwan, the Russian Far East, but due to climate change and transport, the pest is approaching the Latvian border.
“Currently, the nearest infestation sites are in St Petersburg and the Smolensk region of Russia, near the Belarusian border. Our biggest risk area is therefore the border between Estonia, Russia and Belarus.” said Zandere, Senior Inspector of the Plant Quarantine Department of the VAAD.
The Bauska highway, which then runs through Poland to Ukraine, is also considered a risk area.
The emerald ash borer can be transported in various timber or other cargo, explained Uģis Piterāns, senior entomologist at the Latvian National Museum of Natural History. “Adult insects can get caught or crawl into the cracks of the cargo container and thus get anywhere,” he said.
The main destroyers of ash trees are caterpillars that gnaw passages under the bark. The tree then dies within a few years. If the beetle is found, experts say, action should be swift and the infested tree should be felled immediately, as should all other ash trees within a radius of at least 100 metres.
“If we miss it and let it get situated, then, as has been the case with other invasive species – the Spanish slug is now a very well-known example – it is much harder to stop it later. So this monitoring is a good example of what we are doing in advance – proactively,” emphasised Piterāns.
More than 70 traps have been set up across Latvia to monitor the situation – on roadsides, in parks, along railways and elsewhere.
“The trap works using only its colour as an attractant. The green colour is particularly attractive – the beetle loves bright green. If the trap is in the sun all day, it becomes even more attractive and the beetles fly to it. They hit the sides of the hopper and fall into the collection container, from which the inspector takes a sample and takes it to the laboratory for identification,” explained VAAD’s Zandere.
If people spot these traps, experts urge them not to touch them. The pest is also currently being monitored in Estonia.
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