HOUGHTON -- Metallic green beetles may be exotic in nature, but they're not wanted here in the U.P.
A team of Michigan Tech forest researchers is in their second year of working to eliminate the infestation of the Emerald Ash Borer. The team is now ready to collect the purple prism traps they've hung on ash trees across the Keweenaw this summer. The sticky traps hold an aroma to help lure the harmful beetles.
"The flight season is over so there’s no more adults flying,” said Andrew Storer, a professor at the Forestry Department at MTU. “We’re going to take down the purple traps to see whether we have Emerald Ash Borer on them."
Researchers have already spotted some Emerald Ash Borer activity. Once the trap is down, all insect activity goes into a container for further examination.
"At the end of the year, we’ll have a revised distribution map of where the insect is and also some indication of how much there is in a particular area based on how many we catch on a trap," Storer said.
And as I learned, the beetle isn't the easiest to spot with the untrained eye. Their D-shaped bodies can easily be mistaken for any other insect.
But they're best known for killing the ash trees in our areas.
Examining the 433 traps will show the population density of the insect.
"That will then help us for the following season to guide management activity, be it making biological control releases, selectively removing trees if they’re heavily infested or in a heavily infested area," Storer said.
Data from the traps is expected in several weeks.
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