Emerald Ash Borer Quarantine Expands in Virginia

Warm Springs, VA – On July 7 the Commonwealth of Virginia expanded the Emerald Ash Borer quarantine to include Clarke and Frederick Counties and the City of Winchester. This action was taken because of the detection of Emerald Ash Borer in or near these localities. These localities now join a quarantine area that includes Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun and Prince William counties and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park.

The quarantine restricts the regulated articles from quarantined localities to non-quarantined localities. The regulated articles, which include ash trees, green ash and green ash wood products, as well as hardwood firewood, pose a significant risk of transporting Emerald Ash Borer. These regulated articles may move freely within the quarantined areas.

Emerald Ash Borer is a highly destructive, invasive beetle that has already killed millions of ash trees in the U.S. and Canada. The adult Emerald Ash Borer is metallic green in color and approximately one-half inch long and one-eighth inch wide. The adult female deposits eggs in the bark of ash trees.

The Emerald Ash Borer eggs hatch into larvae which chew their way into the soft layer of wood beneath the bark, disrupting the trees’ vascular system and cutting off the flow of water and nutrients. Emerald Ash Borer in the larval stage are difficult to detect as they feed under the tree bark which enables Emerald Ash borer to hitch a ride to new areas when people transport firewood or other infested wood products.