Remember that severely cold week last Winter with temps hitting 30°-40° below zero? It had us expecting a lighter than usual insect season… unfortunately, that just hasn’t been the case!
Here are a few insect problems we are currently noticing in several neighborhoods that you should be aware of…
MEALYBUGS & WOOLLY APHIDS
ADELGIDS
Early Stage
Mid-Stage
Final Stage
The insects shown above feed by inserting their piercing mouthparts into tree bark or needles, causing damage to the trees they attack. All of these insects look fairly similar to each other, appearing initially as bright white, tiny specks, and will become somewhat fuzzy in appearance as they mature. As they feed, they obstruct sap flow and tap directly into the tree’s food storage cells, robbing the tree of moisture and necessary nutrients.
Winter cold does not affect them. They over-winter on the trees they inhabit as shown in the succession photos above, which allows them to increase in numbers from year to year. They can cause substantial individual limb damage and eventually, if the infestation is heavy enough, death of the entire tree.
It is important to note that these insects won’t immediately disappear from the tree after treatments. The reason? Although treatment effectively kills the insect, they die with their piercing mouthparts still inserted into the bark so they are stuck there until they naturally decompose and sluff off down the road.
LOCUST PLANT BUGS
In area neighborhoods Locust Plant Bugs have been increasing their numbers in recent years. Check out the following photos…
In this first photo, you can see that this Locust tree is severely damaged by tens of thousands of tiny Locust Plant Bugs. This photo was taken yesterday. Notice the brownish-hue and overall thin, sickly appearance of the tree. This is what Plant Bugs do as they suck out sap and nutrients.
The normal-sized dark green leaves toward the bottom of the branch are how all leaves on a Locust should look. The smaller, shriveled, browning leaves at the top are the result of Plant Bugs which is what caused the tree to appear as it does in the 1st Locust photo.
We realize with many of our clients experiencing Cicada’s, tiny insects don’t seem like that big of a deal but Cicada’s will soon be gone for another 17 years. However, insect situations like the ones discussed in this email remain and accelerate over the years, making these tiny infestations far more damaging over time.
As always, we need to work in cooperation with our clients as you are on your property every day. If something doesn’t look ‘quite right’, please reach out and let us know.
