Quick Facts
- D-shaped exit holes in bark
- Crown dieback starting at top
- Bark splits revealing galleries
- Epicormic sprouting on trunk
- Woodpecker damage (bark flaking)
What Is Emerald Ash Borer?
Emerald ash borer (EAB) is an invasive Asian beetle whose larvae tunnel under the bark of ash trees, cutting off the tree's ability to move water and nutrients. The adult beetle is small (about 1/2 inch long) and shiny green, but the damage that kills the tree is done out of sight by the larvae feeding in the inner bark.
How to Recognize It
- Thinning canopy or dead branches starting at the top of the tree and working downward.
- Small, distinctive D-shaped exit holes about 1/8 inch wide in the bark.
- Serpentine, S-shaped tunnels (galleries) visible just under the bark if a piece is peeled back.
- New leafy sprouts pushing out of the lower trunk or base of the tree (epicormic shoots).
- Vertical splits or cracks in the bark.
- Heavy woodpecker activity and patches of pale, stripped bark (called blonding or flecking) where birds have chipped away the outer bark to reach larvae.
Adult beetles emerge in late spring and are active through summer, with larvae feeding under the bark from summer into fall. Outward symptoms are most visible during the growing season, but they often do not appear until one to three years after the tree is first infested.
Why It Matters for Atlanta Trees
EAB is extremely serious. According to UGA Warnell, untreated ash trees typically die within 3 to 5 years of infestation, and overall mortality of untreated trees is around 99 percent. The pest was first confirmed in Georgia in 2013 in DeKalb and Fulton counties (metro Atlanta) and has since spread across dozens of north Georgia counties. In our area, that puts green ash, white ash, Carolina ash, pumpkin ash, blue ash, and even white fringe tree at risk. Because dead and dying ash near homes, driveways, or walkways can fall and cause harm to people or property, early detection is critical.
Why this needs an ISA-certified arborist
Several native borers and ash diseases cause symptoms that look similar to EAB, so accurate diagnosis requires a trained eye and sometimes close inspection of the bark and canopy. Effective options (such as trunk injections) require specialized equipment, a licensed applicator, and correct timing, and trees that have already lost roughly 25 to 50 percent of their canopy generally cannot be saved, so an ISA-certified arborist is needed to evaluate whether a tree is a candidate for protection or whether safe removal is the right call.
Suspect Emerald Ash Borer on your tree? Schedule a free on-site visit from EastLake's ISA-certified arborists at request a free estimate or call 404-850-1174.
General Prevention
- Do not move firewood. Buy and burn firewood locally whether at home or camping, since EAB and other pests easily hitchhike on cut wood from infested areas.
- Know what you have. If you have ash trees on your property in metro Atlanta, learn to identify them and start watching the upper canopy each year for thinning or dieback.
- When replacing or planting new trees, choose species other than ash so you are not adding more highly susceptible trees to the landscape.
- If a tree is removed because of EAB, have the wood chipped or properly handled on site rather than hauled to an uninfested area.
What NOT to Do
- Do not self-diagnose. Many tree problems look alike, and treating the wrong one wastes time and can harm the tree.
- Do not apply fungicides, insecticides, or other chemicals without an arborist's specific recommendation. Wrong product or wrong timing makes things worse.
- Do not wait until the canopy is more than half thinned before seeking help. Once an ash has lost roughly 25 to 50 percent of its canopy, it is generally too late to save, and the conversation shifts to safe removal.
Related Services
For most diagnosis and treatment questions, the right starting point is one of our services:
- ISA-Certified Arborist Services, for diagnosis, consultation, second opinion.
- Plant Health Care (PHC), for ongoing tree health management.
- TRAQ Tree Risk Assessment, for when the tree may be a safety hazard.
Sources
This page summarizes general information from: UGA Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources / Georgia Forestry Commission, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), and Mississippi State University Extension.