Location

On the weekend of July 29-30 I was at the Cottage Grove speedway which is a dirt race track at the Cottage Grove Fairgrounds. I was sitting in the stands watching the racing when a large bug flew into me and fell to my feet. It was between 3/4 to one inch in length and metallic green/blue. I was pretty sure what it was and called it out to a friend immediately as a boring beetle of some sort. I proceeded to stomp on it to kill it and brushed it under the stands. I'm reporting this after reading about the Emerald Ash Borer being found in Forest Grove. Incidentally, the race I was watching was the annual sprint car racing series that was touring Washington and Oregon. Just a few nights earlier, 30-40 of those race cars and their support vehicles had just been in Banks, Oregon at the Sunset Speedway. Probably just a coincidence but I thought you should know how it might have migrated.

I'm no bug expert by any means but if I'm right about this and if it helps you guys to establish its presence further South than Forest Grove, please use this information to jump on getting rid of this invasive species.