By Linda Williams, forest health specialist, Woodruff. Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov; 920-360-0665 Multicolored Asian ladybeetles are not native to Wisconsin. Although there are numerous native ladybugs in the state, only the Asian variety are known to aggregate in buildings in the fall and become nuisances.
By Linda Williams, forest health specialist, Woodruff. Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov; 715-356-5211 x232 In the December 2017 edition of Forest Health News, I wrote about ladybugs congregating in or on homes during autumn. Now that winter has finally ended in Wisconsin, ladybugs that spent winter in the walls of your house are emerging, and many of those will […]
This fall, some areas of the state saw large numbers of ladybugs (specifically multicolored Asian ladybeetles) congregating as fall gave way to colder temperatures. Box elder bugs, leaf-footed bugs (or western conifer seed bugs), and brown marmorated stink bugs were also seen congregating this fall in areas of the state where they have been found […]
Ladybug adults and larvae are great predators of aphids and scales and help keep those pests in check. Ladybug larvae don’t look much like ladybugs though, so you may not notice them, or you may wonder what the tiny monster is that’s munching on aphids. Ladybug larvae come in a variety of colors and shapes. […]
By Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff; Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665 Lecanium scale is infesting oak forests across Marinette, Oneida and Vilas counties. These scale insects insert their mouthparts into twigs and suck the tree sap. They release honeydew, which ants can collect, or coat leaves and anything located under infested trees (i.e., yard furniture […]
By Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff, Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665 Lecanium scale is popping up in a few areas of Oneida and Vilas counties. These scale insects insert their mouthparts into twigs and suck the sap of the tree. They release honeydew, which can be collected by ants or may coat leaves and anything located […]
Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff, Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665. This seems to be a good year for aphids, scales, spittlebugs and other insects that suck the sap of trees. Large conifer aphids have been observed on white pine, jack pine and balsam fir. These large, dark colored aphids insert their mouthparts into the twig […]
Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff, Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665. Pine bark adelgids are tiny insects that suck the sap of white pines. Once they insert their mouthparts into the tree, they won’t move any more during their lifetime, so for protection, they grow a white, woolly covering around themselves. A young, white pine plantation […]
By Linda Williams, forest health specialist, Woodruff, Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov, 920-360-0665 Pine tortoise scales are sometimes found at very heavy densities on jack and scotch pine twigs. In Wisconsin they prefer young jack pine trees, inserting their straw-like mouthparts into twigs and sucking out the sap. When populations are high, pine tortoise scale can cause branch mortality […]
Written by: Linda Williams, forest health specialist, Woodruff. Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov, 715-356-5211 x232 Are you wondering how the bitterly cold weather we had in Wisconsin over Christmas and New Year’s affected the insects in your area? You’ll probably be disappointed to learn that, in general, our forest pests handle cold snaps just fine. Here are some examples […]
