The good news about the freezing cold: Invasive insects won't survive

(FOX 9) - Despite the chill, there’s a bit of good news to come out of all this frigid weather.

Namely, the cold has taken a toll on some bugs and especially with the Emerald Ash Borer, the number one tree killer.

Over the years, that insect has taken out a number of our trees here in Minnesota. The bugs have spread from tree to tree, but now that the state has seen its deepest freeze in a long time, the population of the nasty Emerald Ash Borer should decrease.

A lot of factors impact how many of them will die off.

“There’s no magic number, but the rules of thumb that we have are when it gets down to around minus 20, we’re expecting that 50 percent of the insects begin to die,” said Rob Venette, a research biologist with the USDA Forest Service. “When it gets to minus 30, 90 percent could be dead.”

It is possible the gypsy moth could also be impacted, as they usually winter as eggs on trees. However, they could also be underneath the snow which acts as insulation.

The same goes for the Japanese Beetle, which gardeners especially hate.

Those beetles should be find as they got help from the snow that fell right before the frigid cold.

So there are a few hearty survivors, but at least the Emerald Ash Borer may be a little less invasive this year.