The Top 10 Notorious Insect Pests of Trees, Shrubs and Lawns, and

Top 10 Notorious Insect Pests of Trees, Shrubs and Lawns, and How to Deal with Them
You
NYSTA Turf & Grounds Expo, 2014
Daniel A. Potter, Professor
Insects
Non‐Chemical Control
10: Tree‐feeding Caterpillars
Pole pruner
Gypsy moth
Bag nests if a small tree
Eastern tent caterpillar
Fall webworm
Scrape off egg masses when seen
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Pyrethroids Are Very Effective Against Caterpillar Pests
Reduced-Risk Products for
Caterpillars
Tree injection
TREEAge®
Arbormectin®
Abacide 2®
Not Treated
Treated
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#9 Bagworms
Bagworms Behaving Badly
Major Pest of Landscape Evergreens
Male moths mate with
female in late summer
Female
Female bagworm is wingless, legless; never leaves her bag
Adult male is a furry moth that emerges in late summer
Male
Female lays eggs in her bag,
where they overwinter
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Eggs hatch, young
bagworms begin
feeding in May
Bagworm Control Tips
• Handpick bags with egg masses in winter or early spring and destroy
• Target small larvae with reduced‐risk insecticide in late May or June)
Sawflies versus caterpillars
SA
WF L
Y
# 8 Sawfly Larvae
Sawfly: 6 or more pairs of fleshy abdominal “prolegs” (enough to spell SAWFLY)
No little hooks on prolegs
Caterpillar: 5 or fewer pairs with little hooks
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European Pine
Sawfly
Red-headed Pine Sawfly
Sawflies behaving badly
Sawfly pupal cases
(present in winter)
Sawfly adult Common in spring)
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Rose “Slug” – a Sawfly!
Controlling Sawflies
Effective sprays include:
‐ Acelepryn®
‐ Provaunt®
‐ Pyrethroids
Or, prune out small infestations!
#7 Lace bugs, Leafminers, Psyllids
Boxwood pests
Lace bugs
Boxwood psyllid
Boxwood leafminer
Boxwood psyllid:
cupped leaves
Boxwood leafminer
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Boxwood Leafminer
Boxwood Psyllid
Damages Young Leaves in Spring
Nymphs hatch at bud‐break, suck juices from expanding leaves Larvae overwinter in leaves
Adults emerge, mate in spring New growth is deformed Lace bugs
In May, adults lay eggs that overwinter near buds
Female lays eggs in soft young leaves
Yikes!!!
Lace bug symptoms
Stippling
Shiny black fecal specks
Nymphs on Cotoneaster
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Lace bugs damage many plants:
Systemics are the way to go for lace bug, leaf miner, and psyllid control!
Hawthorn
Sycamore
Oak
Azalea Lace
Bugs
Pyracantha, cotoneaster, andromeda
Azalea
#6: Mite Pests Warm season mites
Twospotted spider mite
European red mite
Stippling
Tiny: about the size of a period (.) of 12‐pt text Eight legs
Leaf undersides
Fine webbing
Esp. on Viburnum, burning bush, perennials and annuals
Crabapples, serviceberry
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Cool season mites
Mite damage to burning bush
Spruce spider mite
Many conifers
Southern red mite
Broad‐leaved evergreens Going…….
Going…..
Gone!
Cool season mites
Spruce Spider Mite
Southern red mite
Boxwood Spider Mite
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Beating foliage over paper to dislodge and detect mites
Mite Control Tips:
Use a Miticide! (Most insecticides won’t work for mites)
Good ones include: Avid, Floramite, Forbid, Hexygon, TetraSan
Neonicotoids can flare mite problems on woody landscape plants
Haircut for Potter’s
bug lectures
‐ Stimulates mite egg‐laying
‐ Kills natural predators
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Adult Japanese beetles feed on many plant species
#5 Japanese Beetle
Japanese Beetle Damage to Linden, Lexington, KY July 8
July 18
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Highly susceptible:
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Most lindens
Purple leaf plum
Purple sandcherry
Norway & Jpn. maple
Roses
Certain crabapples
Resistant:
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Red maples
Dogwoods
Redbud
Beech
Tuliptree
Sweet gum
Different cultivars may vary widely in resistance to Japanese beetle Check with Dan Gilrein (Cornell, Suffolk Co.) for info on this Lindens (Tilia spp).
Elms (Ulmus spp.)
“Protects plants throughout the season”
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Japanese beetle adult control
Acelepryn (4 weeks residual) • Pyrethroids
‐ Onyx (4 weeks)
‐ Talstar, Scimitar, Tempo (2‐3 wks)
• Sevin (1‐2 weeks residual)
• Systemics
•
Other control options for Japanese Beetles
Pyola® (Gardens Alive)
• Neem (Azadiractin) products
• Daily hand‐picking
• Fine screen over roses
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# 4: Scale Insects
Armored Scales
Untreated
Neem
Untreated
Pyola®
Soft Scales
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Armored Scales have a detachable, shell‐like cover made from shed skins and waxy secretions
Armored scales encrust branches or leaves; cause dieback and death of plant
Oystershell scale
Obscure scale on oak –
an armored scale Covers flipped to expose insects Euonymus Scale
Pine Needle Scale
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Soft Scale Issues….
Soft Scales
No detachable cover
Body shaped like an inverted teacup
Cottony maple scale
Dripping honeydew Sooty mold fungus
*&%$!!
Magnolia scale
Lecanium scale
Calico scale
Attracts wasps & ants Scale Insect Control: Sprays
Monitor for crawler hatch. Spray options include: Crawler Hatch
‐ pyrethroids (Talstar®, Scimitar®, Tempo®) ‐ insect growth regulators (Distance®, Talus®)
‐ TriStar®
Surfactant and high volume spray may increase effectiveness
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Timing Scale Crawler Hatch by Plant Bloom:
Scale insect control: Systemics:
May be effective against species that have a life stage on leaves
Less effective versus scale insects on bark Oystershell scale coincides with full bloom of Sargent crabapple Euonymus scale coincides with 50% bloom of Kousa
dogwood
#3: Borers in Trees and Shrubs
Some Borer‐Prone Woody Plants
Dogwood
White birch
Lilac
Ash Flowering cherry and plum
Recently transplanted or stressed hardwood trees
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Clearwing borers
Flat‐Headed Borers Adults are moths that resemble wasps Adults are flattened, metallic‐colored beetles
Lilac Borer
Peachtree and Lesser Peachtree borers
Emerald Ash Borer
Bronze Birch Borer
Dogwood borer
Banded ash borer
Flatheaded Appletree Borer
Borer symptoms
Crown Thinning & Dieback Clearwing borers expel frass from cracks in the bark
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Bronze Birch Borer: Flat‐headed borers leave D‐shaped holes when adult emerges
#1 Insect Pest of White Birch!!
Bronze Birch Borer
Female lays eggs under bark flaps
Bronze Birch Borer
Larva makes winding tunnels under bark
Spiral ridges may be evident on infested branches
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Do not plant European white birch
North American birches (paper or canoe birch, gray birch) are less susceptible but still attacked
Flatheaded Appletree Borer:
Most destructive pest of maple trees in production nurseries
River birch is resistant!
Flatheaded appletree borer also attacks many species of stressed landscape trees Managing wood borers:
Crabapples, maples, hawthorn, dogwood, many others are susceptible • Avoid trunk wounds
• Minimize tree stress
• Plant well‐adapted species Newly transplanted trees
Stressed trees
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Borer Treatment Strategies
Option 1: Apply preventive bark spray soon after adults emerge
Borer food
Residues intercept egg‐laying females & newly‐hatched larvae as they chew through bark
Maxwell St., Lexington, KY
Preventive Bark Sprays for Borers
Protective Bark Sprays for Borers Pyrethroids:
‐ Onyx
‐ Astro
‐ Talstar
Treat main
trunk to
runoff
Acelepryn
(clearwing borers)
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Timing Borer Control By Bloom of Indicator Plants:
• Lilac borer: Common lilac; full bloom
• Dogwood borer: Oakleaf hydrangea; first bloom
• Bronze birch borer: America holly, first bloom Systemic insecticides used to control borers Flatheaded and
clearwing borers
Some systemic insecticides can also be applied as trunk sprays Flatheaded borers only
Emerald Ash Borer
Advantage: Fast and non‐invasive
Insecticide translocated
upward to where pest feeds Before (2006)
After (2009)
Toledo, Ohio
Photos: Dan Herms (OSU)
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Emerald Ash Borer
Attacks & kills all sizes and species of ash
Bowling Green State University golf course
Emerald Ash Borer
Emerald Ash Borer
Tunnels under bark
Thinning, dieback
Suckering
D‐shaped holes
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Emerald Ash Borer
in Lexington
Systemic insecticides for Emerald Ash Borer
Shillito Park
UK Ag Good Barn Systemic Treatments CAN Protect Trees from Emerald Ash Borer
2‐3 years protection
1 year protection
Rule of thumb: Under 30% canopy dieback, tree can be saved Not Treated
Not Treated
Treated
Tree can still be saved
Too far gone to save
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White grubs: Turf Enemy #1:
White Grub Mandibles
Japanese beetle
European chafer
D Potter
?#@*$$%!
Yikes! Grub damage! 24
What caused this?
Yikes! Could it be……?
Mmm... Land Shrimp!!
To Discourage More Digging by
Critters
?
I’m outta
here!!
Try spreading Milorganite!
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Japanese beetles lay eggs in moist turf soils from late June into August
European Chafer prefer drier, non‐
irrigated turf European chafer damage
Japanese beetle grub damage appears in late summer and fall
European Chafer grubs feed later into autumn (Nov.) and again in late winter and early spring &%^*#!
Fall damage Spring grub damage in Detroit 26
Preventive Grub Insecticides
Nicotinoids
Anthranilic diamide
All of the preventive insecticides work well if applied at the right time
Treated
Combo Products Not
Treated
For good grub control: Water it in! Broad application window
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What About “Rescue” Treatments?
Most effective:
Non‐Chemical Grub Control: Entomopathogenic
Nematodes
A. Koppenhofer
D. Shetlar
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Nematode Products for grub control
Must contain the nematode Heterorhabditis
bacteriophora
Nemasys G®
NemaSeek®
Our research and other modern
University trials showed NO BENEFIT
from applying milky spore products
Managing grubs with less insecticides Turf‐type tall fescue with endophyte
Mow high and mow often (builds roots)
Fertilize mainly in Fall (builds roots)
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You
Thanks!
Insects
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