By Jaci Edwards for BARC and DPW
The 10 minutes it takes to take a close look at the trees in your yard or along your favorite walk can save your trees from invasive species.
Along with the Mass. Dept. of Conservation and Recreation, Bedford’s DPW and Arbor Resource Committee (BARC) are asking residents to do an annual check of their own yards (and favorite walks!) for invasive species, specifically the Asian Long-horned Beetle and the Emerald Ash Borer.
If you spot either of those, please call the DPW at 781-275-7605.
Quick action can limit their harm to your yard and the community.
ASIAN LONG-HORNED BEETLE (ALB)
Check branches, walls, outdoor furniture, cars and sidewalks. Look for damage: dime-sized (¼ inch or larger), perfectly round exit hole in the tree; oval depressions on the bark where eggs are laid; sawdust-like material (frass) on the ground and branches; sap seeping from wounds in the tree.
August is the best time to look for the ALB, since that’s the peak time for the beetle to emerge.
Once infested, there is no treatment and the tree must be removed. If it is not removed, ALB inevitably spreads and, over time, hundreds or even thousands of trees will need to be removed.
EMERALD ASH BORER (EAB)
The Emerald Ash Borer is small and difficult to detect in newly infested ash trees, exhibiting few, if any external symptoms.
D-shaped exit holes left by emerging adult beetles may be seen on branches or trunk. Bark may split vertically over the infestation.
With increased infestation, foliage wilts, branches die and the tree canopy thins.With heavy infestation, trees may die in as few as 3-4 years.
IF YOU DETECT EITHER ALB OR EAB, CALL THE DPW, 781-275-7605
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