Purple Panel Traps Will Catch Invasive Beetle

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is hanging 10,000 purple panel traps in 35 counties in a multi-state effort to track the Emerald Ash Borer. These beetles, originally from Asia, feed on all species of Ash trees, killing them in one to three years. The beetle has already been found in Cranberry Township and McCandless in Allegheny county. The traps are purple because the beetles appear to be attracted to the violet wave lengths, and they will be coated in a manuka oil which mimics the smell of a sick or dying piece of ash bark.

Sven-Erik Spichiger of the PDA cautions people not to carry local firewood on camping trips. He believes that transporting wood is a major reason for the spread of the beetle. Instead, he says people should buy firewood locally when camping. The beetles have already killed 30 million ash trees in the U.S. and Canada.