"It's become already the most destructive and most costly insect ever to invade North America."
An iconic American tree is facing an extinction-level threat in the form of an iridescent green beetle called the emerald ash borer, which is devastating ash trees in forests and cities across much of the United States. The ash borer, a native to East Asia smaller than the diameter of a penny, was first spotted in North America in 2002 in Michigan, suspected of arriving via imported wood-packaging material. Since then it has firmly established its calamitous impact on the country's tree stock. The beetle has now spread through nearly the entire Midwest, East Coast, and South, confirmed in 30 states and two Canadian provinces as of the spring of 2017. While individual trees can be treated by injecting a pesticide, so far there are no answers to stop the overall march of destruction.

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