Pests and tree insects can be a huge nuisance and can cause you to lose your beautiful (and expensive) trees to disease and other issues they cause. Luckily, most tree pests leave some sign of their presence, and they typically vary depending on the type of pest you have. If you keep your eyes open and watch your trees for these signs, you’ll know when it’s time to call out a Certified Arborist to try to mitigate the problem before it gets worse.
Types of Tree Insects
Depending on where you live in the world, you could have an infestation of a large, large variety of tree insects or pests. However, in Ohio, tree insects can be narrowed down to more easily spot the signs and move it along to hopefully find a solution—or at least stop them from infecting all your trees.
Emerald Ash Borer
You may have heard of this one since Ash trees have been removed from many properties in Ohio areas due to the disease these insects are spreading. This is also much of the reason why you are unable to take firewood into other states. They were first found in Toledo, but they have since spread to Southern Ohio, Akron/Canton, Cleveland, and all other surrounding areas. They are dark metallic green and fly from May until September.
Gypsy Moth
These are also incredibly invasive and typically are attracted to oak trees—although they will eat leaves of other trees as well. They can kill a tree within just two years of feeding on it.
Asian Longhorned Beetle
These beetles affect maple and other hardwood trees, and because of them, a restriction in Tate, Monroe, and Stonelick Townships, along with East Fork State Park, have disallowed the transport of trees or cut wood from these areas.
Hemlock Wooly Adelgid
As their name suggests, they like Hemlock trees. They suck sap from young twigs, causing needles to fall off, and they cause white, cottony sacs at the base of the needles. They are aphid-like and usually pretty hard to see.
Walnut Twig Beetle
Again named appropriately, these beetles attack Black Walnut trees and have Butler County under quarantine because they spread thousand cankers disease among the trees. National trapping guidelines have been released for these beetles because of the damage they cause.
Spotted Lanternfly
These tree insects tend to like a variety of fruit trees, and while they were first found in Pennsylvania, they have made their way into many areas of Ohio. Their egg masses tend to travel on stone and can be spread very easily.
Signs of Tree Insects and Pests
Depending on the type of pest you have, the signs will vary. Because they are all different types of tree insects who interact with trees differently, you will need to keep your eyes open for many different ones. Here are a few examples of signs of varying tree insects.
Boring Tree Insects
These insects are anything but unexciting. They can cause a significant amount of damage to trees. Not only do the adults bore into the trunk, roots, and branches, but they also lay eggs that hatch and burrow even deeper into the wood and block the water-conducting tissues of the trees. Signs of these types of tree insects include holes in the bark from exit or entry, sawdust mounds at the base of the tree, and sections of the tree’s crown that are wilted or dying.
Sucking Tree Insects
These insects really suck (see what we did there?). But they quite literally suck the liquid out of leaves and twigs, and they leave a sticky substance on leaves that can cause sooty mold to form. They can be spotted by looking for scaly formations on branches, moldy or dying leaves, and sticky honeydew (the sweet, sticky substance) on the branches or leaves.
Chewing Tree Insects
You probably see signs of chewing tree insects more often than signs of the other pests. This is because the signs of chewing pests are usually pretty obvious and are all over the leaves. When you see holes all over your trees’ leaves, you probably have a chewing insect problem. Generally, holes in leaves won’t cause issues in healthy trees, but if the infestation is severe or causing loss of leaf surface repeatedly over the course of many years, a tree could fail to thrive or grow. If you see nests or insects along with the holes or a complete removal of leaf tissue or unseasonable loss of leaves, it’s probably time to call out your Certified Arborist.
Rogue Tree Solutions Certified Arborists Keep Trees Healthy
We specialize in Tree Removal, Stump Grinding, Pruning, Lot Clearing, Consulting & Tree Disease and Pest Diagnosis. We pride ourselves in setting the industry standard. We have a very skilled team that consists of years of experience, an ISA-certified arborist, State of Ohio licensed herbicide applicators, etc. At Rogue our mission is simple, we don't want to be compared to our competitors, we want to set the precedent, we want to be ROGUE.
