Swamp White Oak seedling planted in a black ash replacement trial. Credit: Wisconsin DNR
The emerald ash borer (EAB) is causing widespread mortality of both upland and lowland ash. Black ash (and to a lesser extent green ash) is a forest wetland species that helps prevent sites from swamping through evapotranspiration. With the loss of ash in these systems, forest practitioners are developing silvicultural strategies to minimize the impacts through planting and seeding trials.
Article By: Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff
Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665
Have you seen small round holes in acorns? These holes are a sign of acorn weevil damage that can occur in all Wisconsin oak species.
Two acorns show exit holes of acorn weevils. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR
Article By: Bill McNee, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Oshkosh
bill.mcnee@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0942
In 2021, gypsy moth populations increased for a second consecutive summer due to favorable weather conditions. Populations typically increase with an average or mild winter, below average spring precipitation and above average May through June temperatures.
Regional variation in weather can result in significant differences in populations. If weather conditions are favorable again in 2022, the most noticeable increase in caterpillar numbers would likely occur in southern counties, where conditions were driest during this past spring and summer.
Populations experience the fastest growth rate and are first noticed on:
Gypsy moth egg masses found in Walworth County in fall 2021.
Photo Credit: Gypsy moth egg masses KMSU
Continue reading “Take Action! Look For Gypsy Moth Egg Masses”
Article By: Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff
Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665
Tree damage from white pine weevil is noticeable across Wisconsin this time of year. White pine weevils attack several different Wisconsin species, including eastern white pine, jack pine and spruce.
Adult weevils lay their eggs on terminal leaders in the spring. After the eggs hatch, larvae bore into the terminal and begin feeding downwards just under the bark which can result in the killing of a 1 to 2-feet section of the terminal leader as they feed. Terminal leaders will often have a wilted or “shepherds crook” appearance, and they will turn rusty red to brown late in the fall season. These dead terminal leaders will often break off during the winter.
Dead terminal leader caused by a white pine weevil attack on a young white pine.
Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR
Article by: Mike Hillstrom, Forest Health Specialist
In 2020, forest health staff in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa received calls about black walnut stands being defoliated and webbed. In 2021, the defoliation expanded to multiple additional black walnut stands in southwest Wisconsin, while northeast Iowa and Minnesota continued to see damage. Recently, molecular work completed by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has identified the larvae causing the damage as a native Tortricid moth, Gretchena amatana.
G. amatana caterpillars on tree.
Fine webbing covers walnut tree trunk.
Article By: Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff
Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665
The oak slug sawfly (Caliroa quercuscoccineae), sometimes called the scarlet oak sawfly, has the appearance of a small, slimy slug. Its slime helps it stick to leaves it feeds on. The oak slug sawfly’s tiny larvae feed in groups on the undersides of oak leaves, scraping out the green material from between the veins of the leaves. The upper leaf surface is usually left intact, creating a “stained glass window” look. Oak slug sawfly has the ability to completely defoliate leaves before dropping to the ground to pupate.
Oak slug sawfly larvae cause defoliation on oak leaf after feeding.
Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR
Published by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, this guide will help you recognize, avoid and handle potential problems caused by wildlife, insects or plants.
Contents:
Continue reading “Outdoor Hazards In Wisconsin: A Guide To Insects, Plants And Wildlife”
By Todd Lanigan, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Eau Claire, Todd.Lanigan@wisconsin.gov or 715-210-0150
Scattered damage to new red pine shoots has been observed across many counties this summer. With the intermittent rains during the summer, the first thought was that Diplodia shoot blight, a fungal disease, was causing the damage. Upon a closer look, some of the shoot mortality is caused by the red pine shoot moth. From a casual glance, these two problems will look the same, so you really need to take a closer look.
If Diplodia causes the shoot mortality, the shoot usually forms a shepherd’s crook. And, in time, you will find the fungal fruiting bodies on the needles, especially if you look under the needle sheath (covering) at the base of the needles.
Shepherd’s crook caused by Diplodia shoot blight. Photo Credit: Elizabeth Bush, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Bugwood.org
Continue reading “Diplodia Shoot Blight vs. Red Pine Shoot Moth”
Written by: Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff, Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665.
For the third year in a row, colonies of redheaded pine sawfly have been noted on understory red pine in northern Wisconsin, with the most reports coming from Vilas and Oneida counties.
Redheaded pine sawfly larvae feeding on red pine needles. Note the needle stubs where they have eaten nearly to the base of the needle. Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR
Continue reading “Redheaded Pine Sawfly Numbers Remain Elevated In Northeastern Wisconsin”
Written by: Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff, Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665.
White pine trees in many counties in northeast and northcentral Wisconsin have developed rusty-colored wilting needles on outer branch tips scattered throughout the tree’s crown. These dead branch tips are associated with the feeding by white pine bast scale. The scale is a tiny insect that inserts its straw-like mouthpart into the twig to suck sap from the outer layers of phloem called bast. Damage has been observed on trees over 20 feet tall this year.
Branch tips on this white pine indicate a problem with bast scale and the disease Caliciopsis. Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR
