NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A quarantine for emerald ash borer (EAB), an invasive insect that destroys ash trees, has been expanded to include two more Tennessee counties.

With EAB discovered in traps in Bledsoe and Cumberland, both counties are added to the list of areas restricted for the movement of ash trees and ash tree products. This brings the total number of Tennessee counties under a state and federal EAB quarantine to 41.

Typically, EAB beetles can kill an ash tree within three years of the initial infestation. Adults are dark green, one-half-inch in length and one-eighth-inch wide, and fly only from April until September, depending on the climate of the area. In Tennessee, most EAB adults fly in May and June.

Larvae spend the rest of the year beneath the bark of ash trees. When they emerge as adults, they leave D-shaped holes in the bark about one-eighth-inch wide.

The EAB quarantine prohibits the movement of firewood, ash nursery stock, ash timber and other material that can spread EAB. Citizens should report any symptomatic ash trees to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA). Visit www.tn.gov/agriculture/topic/ag-businesses-eab for a symptoms checklist and a map of quarantined counties.

TDA’s Division of Forestry estimates there are 261 million ash trees on public and private timberland in Tennessee, potentially valued as high as $9 billion.