The emerald ash borer, a destructive insect that attacks ash trees, has shown up in trees in Boulder, and Jeffco is keeping an eye on the situation in case the beetle spreads.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture has placed a quarantine on all of Boulder County, so no ash trees can be sold or planted and no ash by-products can be moved outside the county.

“The borer is an invasive insect that has moved to Colorado — we’re the 22nd state to have found it,” John Kaltenbach, state survey coordinator with the department of agriculture said. “This insect can be pretty devastating to ash trees, especially without treatment.”

Kaltenbach said the insects build up in large numbers on trees, and has caused around 2 million trees’ deaths in the midwest. He said that the beetles probably got to Colorado by being on firewood from the midwest that was brought to Boulder.

While Boulder is the only location the insect has been found so far, other cities are preparing in case the insect spreads.

According to information provided by the City of Lakewood, if the insect moves outside Boulder County, the quarantine will be expanded as needed.

“Right now Lakewood is in a watching and learning phase,” Allison Scheck, marketing and community relations administrator with the city, said. “We’re waiting to see what Boulder and the state does.”

Steve Carpenter, urban parks manager with Lakewood, said that some staff has gone up to Boulder to volunteer and collect specimens for study.

Lakewood staff members are monitoring the situation, and any future actions will be dictated by the timing and severity of an infestation.

“We’re in the process of inventorying ash trees in our parks and right-of-ways, which will help us if we have to do something,” Carpenter said. “We know it can take a while for the insect to build up the numbers to get to the point that they would start affecting the trees in a way people would notice, so we want to start on this before it gets bad.”

Kaltenbach said that the department of agriculture is doing a branch sampling survey that will be completed in January or February of 2014, and will then move forward from there.

For more information on the emerald ash borer and the quarantine, visit www.eabcolorado.com.