Emerald ash borer invasion spreads to another New Brunswick community

A dreaded tree-trashing insect has been recorded in a new location in New Brunswick, but the Canadian Food Inspection Agency won't confirm where the emerald ash borer has landed.

"We have to advise the owner of the property it was found on first," said Christine Carnaffan, a spokesperson for the federal agency. 

The invasive beetle is responsible for the destruction of millions of ash trees throughout North America.

It was first reported in May 2018 in Edmundston.

In July, the agency reported the beetle had also been found in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Que., about 90 kilometres from the New Brunswick border. 

Carnaffan said she expects that area where the beetle was located to be announced later this week. 

The species is native to parts of Asia, but according to Natural Resources Canada it was first recorded in this country in 2002.

The beetle burrows into the trunk of ash trees. The insect disrupts the tree's ability to feed and eventually kills the tree. 

The ash borer has devastated tree populations in Canada, such as Mississauga, where city officials have been battling the bug since 2008. 

Traps have been set in different parts of New Brunswick to capture individual insects in order to map how they have spread around the province.

Fredericton has been monitoring the insect. The city hosts tens of thousands of ash trees that are vulnerable to the invasive species. 

Individual beetles travel between 400 to 700 metres annually, but its population is able to spread much faster and further when it piggybacks in firewood moved by humans from province to province.