Trees are beautiful in the landscape until tree pests show up to destroy them. You may want to have ecological harmony in your landscape, but some pests multiply too quickly and don’t have enough natural predators to keep them in check, and that’s when they become a problem.
Spruce Up Tree Care is the best tree service professional in Collierville, TN. If you suspect you have tree pests, give us a call and we’ll help you determine the best move to control them.
Borers
Of all the arboricultural insects, you could probably consider borers as the worst. Wood-boring pests are damaging in the larval stage where they eat wood like crazy as they develop into adult beetles. Large infestations can cause significant tree damage that the tree can’t recover from, and they could even kill the entire tree.
Common borers include:
- Asian longhorn beetles: These vicious tree-damaging bugs are so bad that they’re on federal lists. You’ll notice them when you see drooping and yellow leaves with sawdust near the tree’s base.
- Bark beetles: Bark beetles enjoy a variety of trees and are tree disease vectors, passing along fungal tree infections to every tree they touch. You’ll notice white or brown sappy spots on trees, sometimes even black spots on the bark, and conifers will have browning needles from the top down.
- Emerald ash borers: These do a number on ash trees. They’re tiny, but you’ll notice S-shaped feeding galleries underneath the bark and D-shaped holes later in the season.
Defoliators
Defoliating tree pests eat leaves. They don’t do much damage in small groups, but large infestations can remove every leaf and kill the tree.
- Bagworms: Bagworms are moth caterpillars that have hairy-looking, bag-like cocoons. They prefer evergreens but will accept almost any tree.
- Douglas-fir Tussock moth: These moths lay eggs on conifers in the lower portion of the tree canopy. The caterpillars turn the tree brown from the top down and cause skin irritation if you touch them.
- Eastern tent caterpillar: These caterpillars feed on hardwood trees when they begin budding. They form blackish “tents” for cocoons and leave trees stunted with major leaf damage.
- Gypsy moth: Gypsy moths lay yellow teardrop eggs on tree trunks, and their larvae can cause complete defoliation on a tree.
- Spruce budworm: These highly destructive tree pests can consume all the new growth on spruce trees. Look for dead branches on spruce trees.
- Western tent caterpillar: You’ll know you have these when you see silky web-like cocoons and brown foliage on the outer branches. They’re inclined to fruit trees.
Sap-Suckers
Sap-sucking insects are silent killers for trees because you won’t notice them until they’re too late since they’re often small. They drink sap from leaves, leaving behind stippled patterns, yellowing, and sometimes curly leaves.
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Aphids come in many colors and live on the undersides of leaves. Scale insects are easier to spot because they look like white scales.
Spruce Up Your Landscape With Exceptional Tree Care
When you need help identifying tree pests, call Spruce Up Tree Care for unbeatable service. Contact us at (901) 833-8242 for pest prevention and management; discover more today.
