PHOTOSYNTHESIS: Emerald Ash Borer Trails

The Emerald ash borer is an invasive, wood-boring beetle that kills ash trees by eating the tissues under the bark. According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, they are native to northeastern Asia and likely hitchhiked to the U.S. from China on wood from shipping crates. 

The invasive bugs kill ash trees, causing them to lose most of their canopy within two years of infestation and to die within three to four years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

The U.S. Forest Service estimates there are 12 million ash trees on the Door County peninsula – roughly 13 percent of the county’s tree inventory – that are at risk since the insect was first discovered in the area in 2014. Photo taken at Sven’s Bluff in Peninsula State Park by Collin Massad.