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Glad You Asked: What are those purple-colored, cone-shaped boxes I see hanging in trees?
By Journal Times staff
They’re emerald ash borer traps. The beetle, considered an invasive species, was discovered Aug. 1 in Wisconsin in dying ash trees near the Village of Newburg in Ozaukee County.
The emerald ash borer has killed more than 25 million ash trees in the six years since the insect was found in North America.
Some background …
The emerald ash borer is a little green beetle first discovered in 2002 in southeastern Michigan. The beetle has also been found in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia.
Emerald ash borer larvae — larvae being the bug’s immature stage — take sustenance from the inner bark of ash trees and cripple the tree’s ability to transport water and nutrients. It takes two to three years for the tree to die once the larvae initially feed.
The natural range of the emerald ash borer is eastern Russia, northern China, Japan and Korea. It was transported here accidentally in the 1990s.
All the traps in our area are within 100 miles of the nearest infestation, said Mick Skwarok with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
The nearest infestation is in Algonquin, Ill., about 20 miles from the Wisconsin border. In two years, Illinois has found the borer in 26 locations, all of them in the Chicagoland area.
Newburg is about 63 miles from Racine.
The traps attract the borers in two ways. First is the color. The beetles seem to like purple.
The traps also are coated with Manuka oil, which is derived from a New Zealand tree and mimics the chemicals emitted by distressed ash trees, which the beetles normally seek. A sticky glue holds the borers in the traps.
Workers put the traps up in the spring in 19 counties in southern and southeastern Wisconsin, and started collecting them in July.
Go to http://www.emeraldashborer.info or http://www.emeraldashborer.wi.gov for more information.
Why does it seem like the Milwaukee Bucks always open their season on the road?
The Brewers’ pennant race and Packers’ quarterback issues are dominating Wisconsin sports news in recent weeks, but don’t forget that the Bucks are out there.
The Bucks always seem to open the season on the road because they do almost always open the season on the road. They’ve done so for the past 24 seasons, and open the 2008-09 season against the Bulls in Chicago on Oct. 28.
Yes, we’re serious. Twenty-four, as reported Wednesday on the Web site of the Milwaukee Bucks: http://www.nba.com/bucks. The Bucks are 14-9 in those season road openers. The NBA released its 2008-09 season schedule on Wednesday.
Sportswriter Charles Gardner, a member of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bucks’ coverage team, pointed out in a recent story that the Bucks’ traditional home opener is the first Saturday in November.
And this season the Bucks’ home opener is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, against the Toronto Raptors. Milwaukee is 29-11 all-time in home openers.
Go to http://www.nba.com/bucks or call (414) 227-0500 for more information.
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