College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
All About Discovery!™ New Mexico State University aces.nmsu.edu Little Pests Big Trees
Dr. Carol Sutherland Extension Entomologist, NMSU & State Entomologist, NM Dept. Agriculture
The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences is an engine for economic and community development in New Mexico, improving the lives of New Mexicans through academic, research, and extension programs. Where We’re Going………..
Whirlwind Tour of Common Tree Pests & Their Damage • Mites • Insects • Aphids Leafminers • Scales Web-making caterpillars • Pest bugs Elm pests • Gall makers Bark beetles • Bagworms Other wood boring beetles
All About Discovery! ™ New Mexico State University aces.nmsu.edu Mites on Landscape Trees Tetranychidae: ’Spider Mites’---8 legs, silk makers, kill cells; hot, dry
Life Cycle
Egg Larva Nymphs Adult Eriophyidae: ’Gall Mites’---4 legs, microscopic, host specific (?), colonies in galls
BENEFICIAL!
Bindweed gall mite Boxelder Pouch Gall Spider Mites on Ornamental Junipers
Spider Mite Silk Eriophyid Mites Can Make Flower Galls
Cottonwood---male flowers
Ash---male flowers (‘fruitless ash’); also can attack NM Privet or Olive, (Forestiera neomexicana) (same plant family!) Aphids
Numerous species; host specificity varies Some spp. Alternate hosts annually Piercing-sucking mouthparts; suck sap Honeydew makers! Ants et al. come Crowded colonies produced winged forms Female only coloniesLive birth! (<4/day) Aphids on Common Landscape Trees
Plum-thistle Cottonwood Leaf Arborvitae aphid Pine bark aphid Pine aphid Brachycaudus cardui Gall Aphid Cinara spp. Cinara sp. Essigella sp. Pemphigus populitransversus
Woolly Apple Aphid Oak Aphid Boxelder Aphid Cooley Spruce Gall A. Ash Leafcurl Aphid Eriosoma lanigerum Myzocallis sp. Periphyllus negundinis Adelges cooleyi Prociphilus fraxinifolii Scale Insects
“Simple metamorphosis,” sucking MPs
Toxic saliva = deformities, dieback Look for these! Becoming more common in AZ, UT, Host ranges vary by spp. CO.
Only crawler stage looks like an insect Black Pineleaf
European fruit European elm Oystershell Scale Pine needle Sycamore Scale, Stomacoccus platani
Attack native & introduced sycamores Overwinter in bark crevices, under bark scales -Crawlers emerge & infest leaves at bud break -Several generations/year; leaves w/yellow spots -Crawlers move to bark in fall…..
Where they can be intercepted by Chilocorus sp. Lady beetles (aka ‘twice stabbed lady beetles’)
Adult Chilocorus Larva Pupa
Crawler Kermesid Scale on Oaks
Most globose or potato-shaped; abt ¼” diameter Firm to hard, adults permanently attached to twigs. Cause die-back on twigs; irregular or stunted growth on limbs Hatch in early spring; detect with ‘beat sheet’ or ‘beat bucket’ & treat
Crawlers
eggs Life Cycle: Pinyon Needle Scales
Very common on pinyon pine
In winter, see numerous ‘black beans’ on foliage
Trees look ‘lion-tailed’ & weak
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Ultra-closeup photos of these pests from Dr. Edward Ruden, Sandia Labs, Kirtland AFB, ABQ
Life cycle is more complicated than you might think…….. 11 Pinyon Needle Scales: Males in Fall, Winter In fall, male crawlers emerge, crawl down trunk to soil
Cocoons in duff on ground Pupa—1.85mm, 2 stages?
Adult: 2mm flies in spring All About Discovery! Pinyon Needle Scales: Females in Spring
Crawlers
Females emerge from cysts, walk down trunk
On needles 1st quiet stage
2nd quiet stage All About Discovery! Pesky, Nuisance Bugs Feed on buds, seeds; large populations ‘hang out’, annoying
Red-shouldered Plant Bug Small Milkweed Bug Largid Plant Bug Boxelder Bugs Jadera haematoloma Lygaeus kalmia Largus cinctus Boisea trivittata Gall-y! Oaks Can Have Lots of ‘Em
‘Interesting’ but not harmful to host
Cannot be controlled with insecticides
Jumping oak gall & Oak apple gall, both from cynipids
Andricus quercuslanigera = cynipid gall wasp
Wingless cynipid wasp from bur oak Oak bullet galls, more cynipids leaf gall wasps If You Have Death/Wind Damage, Look For…
Horntails Sirex/conifers Tremex/others
Carpenterworms Prionoxystus robiniae
Zootermopsis laticeps ‘Dampwood Termites’ Bagworms! Northern NM, 2015-16
Male
Pupae in bags
Young larva Larvae 1 generation/year in their bags Female
EggsNew laid Mexico in female’s State University pupa case Mating Pair Aspen Blotchminer, Phyllonorycter apparella
Foliar damage by caterpillars
Damaged leaves fall early
Adults: wingspan of ca. 8mm
2 generations/yr
Pupa (above)
Larva (right) Western Tent Caterpillars, Lasiocampidae Malacosoma californicum
Eggs hatch in early spring Caterpillars feed communally, develop silken tent on ‘leader’ of tree or shrub Disperse at maturity to pupate Adults emerge, fly, mate, die—mid-summer Damage to trees is potentially greater than fall webworm (trees must ‘re-leaf’) Fall Webworms Hyphantria cunea Complete metamorphosis; larvae gregarious, defoliators
Egg masses laid on broadleaf hosts; webs on ends of branches; more annoying than damaging Elm Leaf Beetle, Xanthogaleruca luteola
Widespread, long established pest, especially of Siberian/Chinese elms
Multiple generations/yr Larvae skeletonize/chew foliage Damage cumulative; leaves dry, shrivel & turn brown Adults overwinter indoors or in protected areas
21 European Elm Flea Weevil, Orchestes alni Coleoptera, Curculionidae, 2011 Northern NM to I-40 plus Valencia Co.
Adults tiny, jump, mimic damage of elm leaf beetles; reproduce early spring; larvae are leaf miners 3 mm
22 Banded Elm Bark Beetle, Oct. 1998 New U.S. Record? ✓“Dutch elm” in Clovis?? ✓October, 1998 ✓Nope, bark beetles!
✓Apparently replaced Lesser European elm bark beetle in NM & CO Repeated attacks by BEBB destroys inner ✓ Bark of Chinese/ In CO, BEBB is THE Siberian elm Vector of Dutch Elm Diseasel
✓ NM STILL has not confirmed Coleoptera: Scolytidae, Dutch Elm Disease! Scolytus schevyrewi Semenov How Trees Grow---X-Section
Bark Beetles: cut vascular system, can be killers Adults chew through bark Eggs laid in galleries Larvae mine cambium, phloem Pupae usually in inner bark
Buprestidae, Cerambycidae---tunneling opens trees to other pests, decay, stress; usually secondary pests in dying/recently dead trees
Adult females lay eggs in bark crevices Larvae usually feed briefly under the bark, then bore deeper into wood; finally bore closer to bark Pupae usually in chamber just under bark Evidence of Bark Beetles? Sure Signs of Tree Death by Bark Beetles
‘Top kill’ of spruce by Ips. WM Ciesla, For. Health Intern., CO
‘Group kill’ by Dendroctonus brevicomus, Davis Mtns., TX
Pines with combination of Ips and Dendroctonus damage. Reddish/orange foliage---may appear ‘suddenly’, but trees have likely been dying slowly. SCOOP on Bark Beetles? 3 common genera in conifer trunks
Ips: scooped out on upper rear
This ‘trick’ can be helpful in separating certain Dendroctonus: no scoops genera of bark beetles. However, most ‘twig beetles’ have the ‘no scoop’ profile of Dendroctonus…(most twig beetles ≠ Dendroctonus). Scolytus: scooped out below One Way to Kill a Big Conifer: Overwhelm a Weak Tree, Cut Vascular System
Life Cycle of Ips grandicollis. Ipsenol is the male pheromone. 3 different Ips attack their host at different sites. Second Way to Kill a Big Conifer Blue-stain Fungi in Pine Wood Spores Carried into Hosts by Certain BBs
Furniture made from blue-stain pine. Various websites Above- Ophiostoma pini, in pine stump, Lufkin, TX In CO. Left-Blue stain pine logs at a SD mill. Bark Beetle Galleries---See the Pattern Differences
Dendroctonus brevicomis Dendroctonus ponderosae Ips confusus in pinyonF Ash Twig Beetles = ‘Bark Beetles’
Adult tunneling, Adults reproduce in feeding only larger limbs, trunks; bark dries, peels Two More Families of Wood Boring Beetles Larvae of Buprestidae vs Larvae of Cerambycidae
Adult buprestids are also called ‘Metallic Wood Borers’
Adult cerambycids are also called ‘Long-horned Beetles’
Buprestid larvae = ‘flat-headed Cerambycid larvae = ‘Round wood borers’, make oval tunnels headed wood borers’, round tunnels Cottonwood Longhorned Beetle (Plectrodera scalator)
Plectrodera
Asian Longhorn
Adults appear in late summer; larvae develop for several years, often in roots of older trees; often confused with ALB Long-horned Wood Borers (Cerambycidae) Round tunnels in wood; sawdust
Neoclytus Semanotus Styloxus Callidium Megacyllene Monochamus
Oncideres (mesquite)
Stenelytrana Derobrachus Prionus Moneilema Buprestidae—Flat-headed Wood Borers, Metallic Wood Borers (oval tunnels)
Dicera female, ovipositor extended Buprestis Dicera Lampetis Chalcophora Chrysobothris Melanophila • Hard-bodied beetles, often with metallic colors, especially on undersides
• Day-flying beetles---often in morning; 3-5yrs/generation in some species 35 R Billings, TX For Serv, bugwood.org W Va Dept. Agr. ‘Emerald Ash Borer’---NOT Here Yet!
Skinny metallic green beetle! ‘Kiss Your Ashes Good-bye…’ (Sub-Title for EAB, Oregon Master Gardener Blog, 2013) Recent EAB Detections Current Distribution of EAB, 2017 -Colorado-2013 -Arkansas-2014 Present in Quebec, Ontario -Louisiana-2015 -E. Texas-2016 Guess What? Other Agrilus Have Similar Signatures- --and Other Hosts in NM
July 3, 2015, Rio Rancho, NM Master Gardener responds to ‘dying tree’ **D-shaped emergence holes, **horizontal tunnels under loose bark, resprouts Also, dead beetles were trapped under bark! Meet Agrilus difficilis: ‘Honey Locust Agrilus’
Currently known from the following NM counties:
San Juan Santa Fe Bernalillo Sandoval Roosevelt (late 1980s) Likely elsewhere
It does the same damage to honey locust that EAB does to ash---who knew? Honey Locust Agrilus vs Emerald Ash Borer Larvae vs Larvae Honey Locust Agrilus Emerald Ash Borer
Head extended
Segment shapes differ
Twin projections on ‘tail’ Is EAB a Knock-out Punch for Ash in New Mexico? Ash whitefly, 1987
Redheaded ash borer
Lilac-Ash Borer Cosmetic to Killer? Ash gall mites
We already have these ash pests
Ash twig beetle = Bark Beetle Ash leaf-curl aphid