FOREST INSECT AND DISEASE CONDITIONS IN VERMONT 2010 AGENCY OF NATURAL RESOURCES DEPARTMENT OF FORESTS, PARKS & RECREATION WATERBURY - VERMONT 05671-0601 STATE OF VERMONT PETER SHUMLIN, GOVERNOR AGENCY OF NATURAL RESOURCES DEBORAH L. MARKOWITZ, SECRETARY DEPARTMENT OF FORESTS, PARKS & RECREATION Michael C. Snyder, Commissioner Steven Sinclair, Director of Forests http://www.vtfpr.org/ We gratefully acknowledge the financial and technical support provided by the USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry that enables us to conduct the surveys and publish the results in this report. This report serves as the final report for fulfillment of the Cooperative Lands – Survey and Technical Assistance and Forest Health Monitoring programs. FOREST INSECT AND DISEASE CONDITIONS IN VERMONT CALENDAR YEAR 2010 Frost Damage PREPARED BY: Barbara Burns, Kathy Decker, Tess Greaves, Trish Hanson, Tom Simmons, Sandra Wilmot AGENCY OF NATURAL RESOURCES DEPARTMENT OF FORESTS, PARKS & RECREATION (Intentionally Blank) TABLE OF CONTENTS Vermont 2010 Forest Health Highlights ....................................................................... 1 Forest Resource Protection Personnel ......................................................................... 12 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 13 Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................ 13 2010 Publications ........................................................................................................ 14 Weather Highlights December 2009 to December 2010 ............................................... 15 Weather and Phenology ............................................................................................... 18 Forest Insects ............................................................................................................... 33 Hardwood Defoliators ....................................................................................... 33 Birch Defoliation .............................................................................................................................. 33 Forest Tent Caterpillar .................................................................................................................... 35 Gypsy Moth ..................................................................................................................................... 36 Oak Commodity Survey ................................................................................................................... 37 Other Hardwood Defoliators .......................................................................................................... 39 Softwood Defoliators ......................................................................................... 42 Spruce Budworm ............................................................................................................................ 42 Other Softwood Defoliators ............................................................................................................ 44 Sapsucking Insects, Midges and Mites ............................................................... 45 Balsam Woolly Adelgid .................................................................................................................... 45 Hemlock Woolly Adelgid ................................................................................................................. 45 Pear Thrips ...................................................................................................................................... 49 Other Sapsucking Insects, Midges and Mites ................................................................................. 51 Bud and Shoot Insects ....................................................................................... 54 Root Insects ....................................................................................................... 55 Bark and Wood Insects ...................................................................................... 56 Asian Longhorned Beetle ................................................................................................................ 56 Emerald Ash Borer.......................................................................................................................... 58 European Wood Wasp .................................................................................................................... 66 Trypodendron Bark Beetle Surveys ............................................................................................... 66 Other Bark and Wood Insects ........................................................................................................ 68 Fruit, Nut and Flower Insects ............................................................................. 71 Forest Diseases ............................................................................................................ 72 Stem Diseases .................................................................................................... 72 Beech Bark Disease .......................................................................................................................... 72 Butternut Canker ............................................................................................................................. 74 Dutch Elm Disease ........................................................................................................................... 74 Sirococcus Shoot Blight ................................................................................................................... 74 Other Stem Diseases ........................................................................................................................ 75 i Foliage Diseases ................................................................................................ 77 Brown Spot Needle Blight ............................................................................................................... 77 White Pine Needle Damage ............................................................................................................ 77 Other Foliage Diseases .................................................................................................................... 78 Root Diseases ................................................................................................... 80 Diebacks, Declines, and Environmental Diseases ............................................. 81 Birch Decline and Mortality ........................................................................................................... 81 Drought ........................................................................................................................................... 81 Frost Damage ................................................................................................................................. 83 Larch Decline ................................................................................................................................. 88 Wet Sites ......................................................................................................................................... 88 Wind Damage ................................................................................................................................. 90 Other Diebacks, Declines, and Environmental Diseases .............................................................. 92 Animal Damage ........................................................................................................... 94 Miscellaneous Observations ........................................................................................ 95 Lepidoptera: Butterflies and Moths .............................................................................................. 95 Coleoptera: Beetles ......................................................................................................................... 97 Hymenoptera: Wasps, Bees, Ants and Sawflies ......................................................................... 100 Diptera: Flies ................................................................................................................................ 101 Spiders ............................................................................................................................................. 102 Miscellaneous Orders ..................................................................................................................... 103 Other Arthropods ............................................................................................................................ 104 Ticks ................................................................................................................................................. 104 Invasive Plants ............................................................................................................ 105 Trends in Forest Health ............................................................................................... 111 Sugar Maple Health in 2010 ........................................................................................................... 111 Summary of Findings from 20-years of Monitoring ...................................................................