MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — In a classic David vs. Goliath story, Goliath may be in need of an extra push.

In a little-known struggle currently embroiling ecosystems from Texas to Quebec, North America’s ash trees, the common, durable wood used in everything from furniture to guitar necks, and which can grow to heights of 80 or more feet, are under attack by an enemy that’s only a few millimeters long.

In its natural habitat in the forests of Northeast Asia, the Emerald Ash Borer, an emerald-color beetle of the family Buprestidae more commonly known as “Jewel” beetles, lives and dies in relative anonymity. When a lumber shipment was found to have brought the beetles (possibly as few as one male and one female) into the U.S. in Detroit in 2002, it brought with it one of the greatest-ever threats to ash tree populations in North America.

“[The beetles] specialize on just ash trees, and they seem to be able to infect not just one species of ash tree, but a couple different species,” said beetle expert and GC assistant professor of biology Dr. Nathan Lord. “Their generation times are relatively short, and when a female lays eggs on an ash tree, the ‘immatures’, or larvae, actually burrow underneath the bark, cutting off the supply of water and nutrients and eventually killing the tree. … Because they reproduce quickly, because [the trees] have no natural defenses, and because the feeding results in tree death, that’s why it’s particularly detrimental in terms of this beetle with North American ash trees.”

In the roughly 15 years since the beetles have been discovered in North America, the Emerald Ash Borers have spread rapidly throughout the forests of the Eastern U.S. and Canada. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that the beetles have already killed hundreds of millions of trees, with several billion more in danger if the threat is left unchecked. Last December, the USDA declared a quarantine of 44 Georgia counties prohibiting firewood, wood chips, compost, or any other shipment that might contain ash wood from coming in or out, including counties as far south as Lamar and Jasper.

Lord and his students are working on a plan to stem the tide of the beetles across the continent.

“The projects that we’re working on here have a couple of facets, but the first facet is developing a DNA database,” says Lord. “We’re working with Xavier University and the USDA to essentially sequence the DNA of lots of jewel beetles from all around the world. By using a specific gene that’s pretty good for being different between different species, the idea is to create a database that other researchers can use.”

In “mapping” the DNA of jewel beetles from around the world (Lord’s collection of beetles spans multiple cabinets, many of which he caught and documented himself), the first-year professor and his students hope to learn more about specific genes that govern the insect’s biological processes.

Although the family of jewel beetles derives its name from the brilliant colors often found on their bodies, catching an Ash Borer is no easy task. Ash Borers are extremely quick, small, and sport much plainer emerald coloring than their better-known cousins, making them a nightmare for even experienced biologists to capture. In order to nab the destructive beetles for classification and study, Lord and his students have enlisted one of the insect’s only natural predators in North America.

 “Right now we’re going out and collecting Emerald Ash Borers and other beetles that are being captured by a certain type of wasp,” said junior biology major Dorianna Dobson. “The wasps live alone underground, and attacks its meals in their central ganglia to provide food for it’s young. Basically, we’re using the wasps’ bio-surveillance to make it easier for us to collect the Ash Borers and to understand how they’re killing the Ash trees and what we can do to stop it.”

For the last few months, Lord and his students have collected hundreds of Ash Borer and other beetle specimens from sand wasp nests around Baldwin County and the surrounding area. In helping create a beetle database that can be used by biologists across North America, Lord and his team hope to one day control the population of Ash Borers that have decimated ash forests around the continent.

“If we can better understand how they find one another and how they’re finding the trees, not only are we safeguarding against the Emerald Ash Borer, but any other future beetle threats,” said Lord. “Although it might be too late for the ash trees in some areas, a broader understanding of these beetles would be very useful if we have another pest species that will undoubtedly come in.”