Quality Tree Surgery, Inc. » Pests

Icky, sticky, gooey stuff…

Quality Tree Surgery, Inc. — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 05:14:30 +0000

Icky, sticky, gooey stuff...

Did you experience a clear sticky substance or black mold on your deck, lawn furniture or car last summer? If you did, you may be experienc-ing the symptoms of the Asian woolly hackberry aphid, Shivaphis celti. Middle Tennessee hackberry trees experienced severe infestations during the summers of 2003 through 2006. The aphids mysteriously vanished during the summers of 2006 and 2007 and reappeared again in 2008.

Hackberry, Celtis occidentalis and sugarberry, Celtis laevigata are the host plants for this aphid. The aphids are small, about 2—2.5 millimeters long and are conspicuous due to the large amount of bluish white wax secretion from their abdomen. See Photo. The adults are winged and give the appearance of small pieces of cotton on the undersides of leaves.

Overwintering eggs hatch into females that, without fertilization, give birth to living females. The ability of females to reproduce without mating is termed parthenogensis. This ability allows young to be brought forth throughout the summer, accounting for rapid increases in population. The largest populations usually occur in late July or early August in our area. In late fall, males and females are born. After mating, the female deposits overwintering eggs, and the cycle contin-ues the following year.

During severe infestation the aphids excrete large amounts of honeydew, which coats the lower leaves and drips onto objects below the tree. The honeydew attracts ants, bees and other insects and serves as a medium for the growth of sooty mold fungus. In most cases little injury occurs to the trees; however, staining of wood, painted surfaces or fabric may occur from prolonged exposure to sooty mold.

If you are experiencing staining of decks, lawn furniture or other valuable items, you may want to consider treatment for this pest.

Prevention can be obtained by soil treatment in April or May with a systemic insecticide, such as imidicloprid. Reduction of populations can be obtained by spraying small trees with a contact insecticide or microinjection of larger trees in July through September.

ANTS

Quality Tree Surgery, Inc. — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:27:12 +0000

Those poor little creatures get blamed for so many things! It’s not uncommon to hear that those pesky little ants have “eaten my tree, and now it’s dying!” It’s quite the opposite! Ants cannot actually “eat,” for they cannot chew or swallow solids. Instead, they suck out juices which they squeeze from pieces of food. Ants actually can and do wonderful things for us. They aerate the soil and their diet consists of things that eat trees and plants.

The biggest enemy to our trees (other than human beings) is fungi. Fungi thrives in dark, moist ar-eas. When a tree has a cavity inside, fungi will slowly eat up the wood, and that can become a big problem for the tree. Ants, on the other hand, are opportunists, and seek trees with this problem to set up a home. There, they work really hard and carry out the rotten fungi infested wood and make little baby bedding gal-leries for their young. Given time, a subdivision develops to house thousands in their community.

The beneficial side effect of this ant farm creates air movement inside the open wound area helping it to stay dry, thus making it unfavorable for fungi to thrive. The presence of ants is actually helping the tree, although seeing a colony living inside of your tree may be an indication of a more serious problem. Some fungal cavities may become so big that it detracts from the structural integrity of the tree, causing it to be-come unstable. In a nut shell, while ants are good in nature, they remain bad in your kitchen, and indicators of possibly larger problem in a tree.

Ruel Jones

Pest Alert

Quality Tree Surgery, Inc. — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:13:40 +0000

Did you experience a clear sticky substance or black mold on your deck, lawn furniture or car last summer? If so, you may have been experiencing the symptoms of the Asian woolly hackberry aphid, Shivaphis celti. UT’s Insect and Disease Diagnostic Lab first re-ported this aphid in the southern counties of our state in the Summer of 2001. It has since moved into the middle TN area and was re-ported during the summer of 2002.

Hackberry, Celtis occidentalis and sugarberry, Celtis laevigata are the host plants for this aphid. The aphids are small, about 2-2.5 mm long and are conspicuous due to the large amount of bluish white wax secretion from their abdomen. See photo. The adults are winged and give the appearance of small pieces of cotton on the undersides of leaves.

Overwintering eggs hatch into females that, without fertilization, give birth to living fe-males. The ability of females to reproduce without mating is termed parthe-nogenesis. This ability allows young to be brought forth throughout the summer, account-ing for rapid increases in popula-tion. The largest populations usu-ally occur in late July or early Au-gust in our area. In late fall, sexual males and females are born. After mating, the female deposits over-wintering eggs, and the cycle con-tinues the following year.

During severe infestation the aphids excrete large amounts of honeydew, which coats the lower leaves and drips onto objects below the tree. The honeydew attracts ants, bees and other insects and serves as a medium for the growth of sooty mold fungus. In most cases little in-jury occurs to the trees; however, staining of wood, painted surfaces or fabric may occur from prolonged exposure to sooty mold.

Treatment is usually only warranted for trees in areas where staining of decks, lawn furni-ture or other valuable items may occur due to sooty mold colonizing honeydew. Prevention can be obtained by soil treatment or microin-jection from April to mid-June with a sys-temic insecticide such as imidicloprid. Reduc-tion of populations can be obtained by spray-ing small trees with a contact insecticide or microinjection of larger trees in August or September.

Kim Cross

Are Your Flowering Dogwoods Bored?

Quality Tree Surgery, Inc. — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:02:40 +0000

No, Dogwoods don‟t get tired of looking at other trees and shrubs in your land-scape! I‟m talking about dogwood „borers,‟ Synanthedon scitula. These are the most destructive insect pests that attack flowering dogwood, Cornus florida in Ten-nessee. Wounded trees are the most vul-nerable since the larva gain access through wounds or scars. The adult is a clearwing moth that looks like a wasp. An early symptom is sloughing of loose bark from areas that have been attacked. More ad-vanced symptoms are crown dieback and adventitious shoot growth along the trunk and scaffold branches.

The adult moth is about 1/2” long and has a blue-black body with yellow bands and clear wings. It generally begins to emerge in late April to early May. The females lay eggs on or near wounds or in the crotches of scaffold branches. The larva feed on the cambium and remain in their tunnels throughout their develop-ment. The larva overwinters in the feed-ing tunnel and begins feeding again for a short time in the spring before pupating. There is usually only one generation per year.

The following measures can be taken to manage this pest:

1) Prune out and destroy infected branches.

2) Avoid unnecessary wounding, i.e., string trimmer damage to the base of the tree.

3) Preventive spray applications of per-metherin should be applied to the trunk, root collar and main branches during late April and mid-July.

4) Promote the vitality of the tree by maintaining soil fertility and applying water during dry periods.

Following this plant health care regime should give you many years of enjoyment from your flowering dogwoods.■

The following measures can be taken to manage this pest:

1) Prune out and destroy infected branches.

2) Avoid unnecessary wounding, i.e., string trimmer damage to the base of the tree.

3) Preventive spray applications of per-metherin should be applied to the trunk, root collar and main branches during late April and mid-July.

4) Promote the vitality of the tree by maintaining soil fertility and applying water during dry periods.

Following this plant health care regime should give you many years of enjoyment from your flowering dogwoods.■

Kim Cross

Mosquito Madness

Quality Tree Surgery, Inc. — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:25:45 +0000

Have you heard about the West Nile Virus? Read up! It‟s interesting . . . .

Who’s Most at Risk

 People over age 50

 Anyone with a weakened immune system

Symptoms

Incubation period (time from infection to onset of symptoms) is usually 3 to 15 days.

 Fever

 Headache and body aches

 Skin rash & swollen lymph nodes

More severe infections:

 Disorientation/Stupor

 Tremors & convulsions

 Muscle weakness or paralysis

 Coma

Prevention Tips

 Get rid of buckets, unused plastic pools, flowerpots, or other water-holding items

 Clean out rain gutters and clear flat roofs of standing water

 Eliminate puddles around your air conditioner or septic tank

 Check tarps on boats or pools to make sure they aren‟t holding water

 Use insect repellents—ones containing DEET and permethrin are most effective, according to Consumer Reports. DEET does not kill bugs, but the vapors discourage them from landing or climbing on you. These products are considered safe for adults and children age 2 months and older.■

Do You Have a Mosquito Problem?

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Dense Brushy Areas to Reduce Populations?

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