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Emerald Ash Borer Beetle Killing Trees in Michigan Indiana DNR asks homeowners to look for D-shaped bores An exotic beetle, the emerald ash borer, has been eating and killing ash trees in Michigan, creating need for quarantines on tree stock shipments and creating worried homeowners, shadelovers, arborists and nursery dealers. This borer beetle likely came in bulk steel shipments from Russia, scientists report. Chipped ash is used to cushion loads of steel so they don't shift on ocean voyages, and the beetles hitched rides into North American ports. Any number of things can cause an ash tree's decline, some weather-related—like hard spring frosts, said Waltz. But the emerald ash borer beetle (Agrilus planipennis) is a native of China, Korea and Japan and had not been seen previously in North America. This beetle is a threat because our native ash trees have no defenses against this pest, and few natural enemies. You can go on-line at www.IN.gov/dnr/entomolo/pestinfo/ashborer.htm to see the beetle, or contact a professional arborist or your county extension agent. ... Non-native emerald ash borer beetle from China threatening to wipe out U.S. ash trees. The non-native emerald ash borer is threatening to wipe out the ash trees that line city streets and shade backyards across the U.S., according to an AP/Yahoo News story. Scientists suspect the beetle - which kills every tree it attacks - arrived in the U.S. in wood used to pack cargo from China, where the insect is native. So far it has infested or destroyed about 6 million ash trees in southeast Michigan, and was discovered in Ohio in the spring of 2003. The potential is there for widespread devastation, said Robert Haack, an entomologist with the U.S. Forest Service. It looks like this is going to be another Dutch elm disease.   You have whole neighborhoods that don't have any trees, said Bill Davis, who chairs a local tree commission in Livonia, Michigan. It's like you have a brand new house in a subdivision. http://eces.org/blog/archives/000150.php .... Capital News Service LANSING