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TREE INSECTS AND PESTS IN BILLINGS, MT
The natural predator of any tree is insects. There are hundreds of thousands of different insects across the world that feed on or cause damage to every kind of tree imaginable. Other, larger animals can also cause damage to trees for various reasons. These are a few of the most common to the local area.
APHIDS
Aphids can have a negligible effect on trees, but if the conditions are just right, they can reproduce quickly and cause significant damage. This can be especially damaging to the tree during the growing season. Aphids attack trees by sucking the sap out of the leaves. The symptoms are very visible on the leaves in the form of multiple puckered marks, yellowing, and twisting of the leaves which gives the appearance of deformed leaves. With an increasing number of aphids around, you might see leaves falling off branches and twigs, or leaves appearing to drip sap from the underside. Don't worry; if it looks like sap, it most likely is – but not the kind produced by trees! The ‘sap’ that is dripping is actually a sugary secretion from the aphids, called honeydew. This sugary syrup often drips onto leaves, plants, and even the ground. Unsurprisingly, these sweet droplets often attract ants who snack away on this tasty treat. In most cases the ants are only symptoms of the honeydew and are not actually attacking or hurting a tree.
Treatment Options
- Spraying: Foliar Insect Control
- Injections: Insect Management
PINE BEETLES
Pine beetles bore into a tree to eat the nutrient pathways of the inner bark and to lay their eggs in the network of tunnels created by their eating path. When the eggs hatch, the larvae also feed on the inner bark, causing the tree to wither and starve. Look for small holes in the tree's bark where the beetle bored its way into the tree. In an attempt to push the beetle out, a healthy tree with good sap flow will form sap balls or sap tubes, called pitch tubes. Additionally, you may see an ultrafine sawdust powder below bore holes.
Treatment Options
- Spraying: Pine Bark Beetle Prevention
LEAF CHEWERS
Think of leaves as food factories for trees. Within them, light energy is utilized to manufacture sugars that the plant will use for development. Chewing insects, by devouring foliage, can cause a great deal of distress in a landscape situation. In essence, trees with inadequate foliage will starve.
Treatment Options
- Foliar Insect Control
- Injections: Insect Management
LEAF MINERS
A leaf miner is the larva of an insect that lives in and eats the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leafmining insects are moths, sawflies and flies, though beetles and wasps also exhibit this behavior. Like Woodboring beetles, leaf miners are protected from many predators and plant defenses by feeding within the tissues of the leaves themselves, selectively eating only the layers that have the least amount of cellulose. When attacking English oak, they also selectively feed on tissues containing lower levels of tannin, a deterrent chemical produced in great abundance by the tree. The precise pattern formed by the feeding tunnel is very often diagnostic for which kind of insect is responsible, sometimes even to genus level. The mine often contains frass, or droppings, and the pattern of frass deposition, mine shape and host plant identity are useful to determine the species of leaf miner. A few mining insects use other parts of a plant, like the surface of a fruit.
Treatment Options
- Foliar Insect Control
- Injections: Insect Management
MITES
These insidious pests may not be very big, but they can cause quite a bit of trouble! Spider mites often display themselves on the underside of leaves in shades of brown, red, or purple. If you're concerned about the health of your tree, a sure sign of spider mite infestations is yellow spots or wilted and curled leaves. When the temperature is high and dry, the infestation can worsen and cause the leaves to drop. To check if you indeed have spider mites, take a good look at the undersides of the leaves. You may need a magnifying glass to see them more clearly. An easy way to do this is to hold a white paper sheet underneath a bunch of leaves and shake or tap them lightly. Doing so will cause the mites to settle on the paper, making them much easier to identify.
Treatment Options
- Foliar Insect Control
- Injections: Insect Management
ANTS/SPIDERS
Ants will not, nor are they capable of, feeding on living tissue or living wood. Instead, they cater to the environment by devouring and transporting decomposing wood to create living grounds. Many matured trees feature cavities inside them, a telltale sign of ant activity. The cavities should never be filled with cement or any other substance, and the ants that occupy them do not need to be destroyed unless you have another reason to destroy them (for example: if they start invading your house!). The brown tree spider constructs a latticelike web that boasts one or more entrance tunnels. It often utilizes leaves, twigs, evergreen needles or grass blades to help support the web. The spider will often construct its web horizontally across the soil’s surface or on trees, shrubs or plants. The spider hides deep in the tunnel of the web and awaits its prey. Once the web has been successfully constructed, the brown tree spider rarely leaves its confines.
Treatment Options
- Spraying: Foliar Insect Control
- Perimeter Pest Control
BEES VS WASPS
Many of us may not realize it but there are actually significant differences between bees and wasps. Whilst they may appear similar in terms of color, their physical and behavioral characteristics diverge greatly. Bees and wasps present with quite different body and leg composition. Bees have hairy body and legs in contrast to wasps that have far smoother bodies and legs. The abdomen and thorax of a bee is round in comparison to a wasp which is cylindrical. Furthermore, bees possess flat and wide legs in contrast to the much waxier and rounder legs of wasps. Pollination is essential for many gardeners and beekeepers and here bees are invaluable! It is the bees’ job to collect pollen and sip on nectar, and they will most commonly be seen amongst the blooming flora. Further, bees consume water and they utilize this for cleaning their hive, with the Queen bee particularly partaking in Royal Jelly, a special nectarlike substance .Wasps however, perform a different role in nature: they are predators, mainly snacking on defenseless insects such as caterpillars and flies. They are, however, attracted to sugary and alcoholic drinks. Lastly, whilst bees are a vital member to any apple orchard, wasps on the other hand are an unwanted guest. Because of their burrowing and destructive behavior they can often devastate not only the apple trees, but the apples themselves!
Treatment Options
- Spraying: Foliar Insect Control
- Perimeter Pest Control
WORMS AND OTHER LARVAE
It seems that there is an abundance of worm species that are content in spending time in trees! Between bagworms, Catawba worms, apple tree worms, Christmas tree worms, army worms, and catalpa tree worms, it can be difficult to keep up! For example, the larva of the sphinx moth, the Catawba worm, loves feasting on catalpa tree leaves. And it's not just catalpa trees for worms; apple trees also appeal to them! Specifically, the “apple maggot” and “codling moth” are some of the most commonly found apple tree worms. How fascinating that there are so many varieties of worms that prefer the company of trees!
Treatment Options
- Spraying: Foliar Insect Control
- Injections: Insect Management
DEER, PORCUPINE AND OTHER CRITTERS
Bark stripping by Fox squirrel
It's common for male deer to rub and scrape their antlers against trees - oftentimes resulting in damage. This process removes the velvet which covers their antlers. After they've removed the velvet, deer may further polish their antlers by rubbing up and down the trunk. Male deer also rub trees to advertise themselves to potential mates and to ward off competitors. In addition to this, they may paw around the soil underneath trees and even urinate around the tree, resulting in broken branches, damage to bark, and unfortunate nutrient and water deprivation for the tree. To protect your trees from deer chewing, consider pruning the lower branches.
Porcupine damage will typically be high up in the tree and will focus on the trunk bark and branches. Damage typically occurs during the night.
Beaver can strip the bark to a standing height of less than 6 feet. Look closely for large scrape marks created by their teeth. These marks will help distinguish the damage from voles. Also voles tend to debark thinner trees. Beavers can also cut down trees.
It's important to remember that during the winter, snow cover can give rabbits an additional lift, allowing them to gnaw at the bark of trees up to a higher level than usual. Rabbits have the habit of stripping the trunks of trees, typically those with smooth bark, around as high as they're able to reach.
Squirrels can clip the ends of tree branches and cause an extensive amount of damage as shown by the large quantity of evergreen clippings that have fallen to the ground. Squirrels can also strip bark on the trunk or the branches. Damage will typically occur in late winter or early spring. A critical sign will be the presence of small (1/2inch) remnants of bark found below the branches that have been stripped. These remnants comprise a key difference between branches damaged by porcupines and those damaged by tree squirrels.
Treatment Options:
- Deer and Varmint Repellent
