2002: EAB is identified in southeast Michigan and Windsor, Ontario. Commonly believed to have arrived in Detroit on shipping pallets from its native China. Some believe initial infestation occurred in ash trees in the area a decade or more prior to detection.
2003: The newly identified pest is found in Ohio, Maryland, and Virginia in 2003.
2007: Experimental effort to biocontrol EAB with hymenopteran parasitoid species of EAB from China is undertaken in southern Michigan. A relative failure in this endeavor amidst the rapid spread of eab across the upper midwest informs scientists of the insect’s unusually aggressive nature.
June 9, 2016: First confirmation of EAB in Nebraska at Pulaski Park in Omaha, and on June 17th on private property in Greenwood, NE—about 17 miles from the center of Lincoln
December, 2018: EAB infestations are known in 35 states and five Canadian provinces. EAB is now active or closing in on all zones where ash trees grow in the USA.
August 22, 2018: Presence of EAB is confirmed in Lincoln. Nebraska Department of Agriculture announces they have found EAB in a trap located inside Lincoln and an arborist has discovered an ash tree with signs of EAB infestation in Fremont, NE.
April 23, 2019: EAB is confirmed in live tissues in central Lincoln. EAB infected tree was removed from the 38th and F Street area in mid-April of 2019. According to a Journal Star article, “State entomologist Julie Van Meter suggested the bugs have been here, undetected, for more than a year.” Read article here.
May 1, 2019: A program of “adoption” of public ash trees for insecticide treatment by private citizens begins in Lincoln. Click here for information on adopting a tree on city property.
Spring 2022: EAB damage is now observable in random trees in Lincoln. Central and north neighborhoods seem to be the hardest hit areas. The correct time to start treating ash trees is now known to be years in the past. Trees that have their first applications of insecticide in 2022 have less anticipated chance of survival than those that started treatment in the past.
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