EAB found in Yorkville

By ROWENA VERGARA Staff Writer, Beacon News

YORKVILLE -- A menacing beetle that continues to wreak havoc on the Midwest and found its way into Aurora recently has now been lurking around Kendall County.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture this week confirmed that the emerald ash borer had infested a tree on Sheridan Court, on Yorkville's north side.

"We knew it was in the area, and we knew we couldn't avoid it forever," Yorkville Public Works Director Eric Dhuse said Thursday.

Dhuse said Yorkville plans to take more action in the spring when it's easier to identify ash trees.

The emerald ash borer is a tiny, metallic green pest that sheds larvae on the trunks of ash trees and cuts off nutrients to trees as a result.

The beetles are about half the diameter of a penny. Signs of infested ash trees are D-shaped holes in the bark of the trunk or branches and shoots growing from the base of the tree.

The beetle, which was fist discovered near Detroit in 2002, is responsible for the loss of tens of millions of trees in the Midwest. It is believed to have come to the United States from Asia, arriving on solid wood packing material carried in cargo ships or airplanes.

The first siting in Illinois occurred west of St. Charles in June 2006. Since then, the state Department of Agriculture has confirmed infestations in Kane, Cook, DuPage, LaSalle, Will and McHenry counties.

Aurora's infestation, which was spotted in mid-November, involved one tree on Liberty Street west of Route 59 in DuPage County.

Yorkville residents who suspect or find an adult or larval form of the emerald ash borer should contact Yorkville's public works office at 630-553-4370 or e-mail photos to the Illinois Department of Agriculture at agr.eab@illinois.gov.