Not Emerald Ash Borer. I have photo.

[gonefishing]

My poor sick ash trees are suffering on the tips of the long branches, where new twigs and leaves should be growing. The leaves and twigs are bright green and very mutated. There is a kind of web in among the mess, and I have seen some bugs like skinny flies, about the size of a large mosquito but with longish wings, and the bugs appear to be orangish. Here, hopefully, is a picture of the end of a long branch. Any advice or guesses would be gratefully received.

 

[Tree Machine]

Have any of your neighbors sprayed any herbicide? Agricultural fields nearby? Certain herbicides, like 2,4-D are synthetic growth regulators that cause the plant to grow so rapidly and uncontrolled that the plant is unable to sustain itself. Agent orange, used in Vietnam was one such type of chemical used to defoliate forests, a mix of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T

This is just a guess. Chemical drift. Your tips have gone meristematically haywire. The question is why?

Definitely not EAB. The crown dies from the tips down with that bug.

 

[gonefishing]

Could be chemical drift, as we are in the middle of a huge farming area here, and you can smell chemicals every morning in the air from fields being sprayed. Yeah, that clean country living! However, the web-like material in the deformed masses makes me wonder more about insects. Thanks for giving me something to think about.

 

[Tree Machine]

I think we have the culprit. I'll bet if you went and found some unaffected ash trees, you'd find the same webbing, but not the effects you see on your trees.

Also, look at other species of trees nearby and see if you see small, curly multi-leaves or galls. My other guess is the agricultural fields, the crops grown are either wheat, corn or grasses for hay. I'll guess wheat. The reason is these are monocots, and the herbicides are more specific to dicots (broadleaf).

 

[gonefishing]

Sounds logical. Thanks for the input.

 

[ATH]

More likely:
Ash flower gall. Here is a link to a factsheet. This is pretty common on the male flowers of ash trees around here. The wierd looking area will turn hard and brown later in the year. Not a problem for tree health.