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TextTraps to Detect Emerald Ash Borer to Be Put Out Across Fairfax County Starting April 20
April 15, 2009
OPA 081/09
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Starting April 20, glue traps will be hung in ash trees across Fairfax County to detect the emerald ash borer, an insect that kills these trees. The large, purple traps will help to monitor this pest’s presence in the county.
Officials ask the public to report traps that have fallen to the ground, and they advise not to touch them since they are covered with extremely sticky glue. Because many ash trees are on private property, officials also are looking for homeowners who will allow traps to be hung in their trees. Call the Fairfax County Forest Pest Branch at 703-324-5304, TTY 711, to report fallen traps or to permit traps to be put on private property.
Unless there is an infestation in an area already, the traps won’t bring the insect to locations where they are hung. Approximately 2,000 traps will be placed across the county as part of a statewide effort to track the insect.
County and state officials will monitor the traps regularly to check for emerald ash borers. The traps allow this pest to be found without damaging trees. Otherwise, arborists must cut away an ash tree’s bark to find the insects.
The triangular traps are non-toxic. They don’t contain pesticides or chemicals. To catch the insects, however, the traps are baited with natural plant oils and covered with non-toxic glue.
The emerald ash borer, a serious threat to ash trees, was discovered in several locations across Fairfax County last summer. These insects have killed more than 25 million ash trees in the U.S.The borers are native to Asia, and they probably first arrived in this country in the 1990s.
For more information about the trapping program, call the Fairfax County Forest Pest Branch at 703-324-5304, TTY 711, or the Virginia Department of Agriculture Consumer Services at 804-786-2373, TTY 711.
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Contact: Merni Fitzgerald, Director, Office of Public Affairs
703-324-3189, TTY 711, Media Pager: 703-324-NEWS (6397)
publicaffairs@fairfaxcounty.gov
To request this information in an alternate format, call 703-324-3187, TTY 711
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