ST. LOUIS -- Missouri is battling a pest that could threaten potentially millions of trees in the state. Traps caught seven emerald ash borers in July at a recreation area in Wayne County, several miles north of Poplar Bluff in southeast Missouri.

The small, metallic green beetle is native to Asia. Its larvae burrow into the bark of ash trees, causing trees to starve and die.

The beetle first showed up in the United States in Michigan in 2002, and has reached at least seven other states, killing millions of trees. Missouri is the farthest south and west of the known infestation.

In August, the state ordered a quarantine of ash wood, ash products and hardwood firewood from Wayne County. Ash trees make up about 3 percent of Missouri's forests and as much as 14 percent of trees in cities and towns.