Insect

Acorn Pip Galls, Woolly Catkin Galls All The Same

Posted on by akabelowsky

By Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff; Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665

Photo of acorns showing small pip galls.

Pip galls are small, tongue-like protrusions emerging from under the caps of acorns. / Photo Credit: Linda Williams, Wisconsin DNR.

Gall wasp life cycles can be complex. Did you know that acorn pip galls, which I’ve written about several times, have another part of their life cycle that is entirely different? This stage is called the woolly catkin gall.

Both woolly catkin galls and acorn pip galls are caused by Callirhytis quercusoperator, a species of cynipid gall wasp. This gall wasp takes two years to complete development by going through the two parts of its life cycle. Both parts of the life cycle are completed on northern red oak in our area.

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High Beech Scale Moving Beyond Door County

Posted on by akabelowsky

By Bill McNee, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Oshkosh; bill.mcnee@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0942;

and Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff; linda.williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665

Photos of white 'wool' coating on trees with beech scale.

Examples of white “wool” coating on trees heavily infested with beech scale at Kohler-Andrae State Park (left) and in the Town of Beecher in Marinette County (right). / Photo Credit: Bill McNee (left) and Linda Williams (right), Wisconsin DNR.

Fourteen years after first detecting beech scale (Cryptococcus fagisuga, a non-native insect) in Door County, sites with high populations of beech scale have been found in additional counties. Beech scale is believed to have spread through the range of American beech in Wisconsin’s eastern counties, but until now has only been seen at low levels outside of Door County.

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White Pine Weevil Damage And Management Options

Posted on by akabelowsky

By Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff
Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665

Photo of a white pine tree showing weevil damage.

A dead terminal leader, resulting from an attack by white pine weevil. Photo: Linda Williams, Wisconsin DNR.

White pine weevil (Pissodes strobi) is a native insect that can kill the terminal leader of white pine, jack pine and spruce. Wisconsinites often refer to this insect as Tip Weevil.

The insects prefer to attack stout terminal leaders. When the terminal leader dies, lateral branches grow upward and compete to take over apical dominance. This can leave a noticeable crook for decades. If two or more lateral branches take over, forking can occur. New terminal leaders may be attacked in subsequent years, causing more crook or forking.

Spruce and jack pine tend to recover better from weevil damage than white pine because the lateral branch that takes over apical dominance often creates a less prominent crook.

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Eastern Tent Caterpillar Webs Common

Posted on by akabelowsky

Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff
Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665

Photo of web of eastern tent caterpillars.

Eastern tent caterpillars and their webs start out small but grow quickly. Photo: Linda Williams, Wisconsin DNR.

Have you seen trees along roadsides with white webs in them? Eastern tent caterpillars (ETC) are hatching and beginning to feed on host trees, including cherry, apple and crabapple.

Landowners and homeowners may notice the white silken tents forming in branch forks. Although they form unsightly nests, ETC is a native insect, so management is not typically necessary. Even completely defoliated trees will produce new leaves within a few weeks.

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Diseases Take Aim At Spongy Moth

Posted on by akabelowsky
Photo of tree showing caterpillars killed by virus and fungus

Caterpillars killed by nucleopolyhedrosis virus (NPV) hang in an inverted “V” orientation; caterpillars killed by the fungus Entomophaga maimaiga hang vertically. Photo: Wisconsin DNR.

By Bill McNee, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Oshkosh
bill.mcnee@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0942

With this spring’s dry weather in Wisconsin came predictions of the largest spongy moth population in years.

When spongy moth populations are high, we often see heavy mortality of the larger caterpillars due to two pathogens. Heavy caterpillar mortality will reduce the severity of the following year’s outbreak and often causes a population crash during the current year. If a heavy die-off of caterpillars is observed, please let your local DNR Forest Health Specialist know about it.

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Multiple Oak Defoliators Active Now

Posted on by akabelowsky
Photo of oak leafroller caterpillar on a leaf.

Oak leafroller caterpillars web leaves together as they feed. Photo: Wisconsin DNR.

Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff
Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665

Watch for defoliators in your oak trees this summer. You may have already heard news reports about spongy moth caterpillar populations being high this year, but there are some native caterpillars to watch for this year as well.

In 2022, oak leafroller caterpillars caused significant defoliation to oaks in areas of northeastern and northwestern Wisconsin, as well as in Blue Mound State Park. Many other areas experienced lesser amounts of defoliation from oak leafroller.

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Emerald Ash Borer Found In Polk County

Posted on by akabelowsky
Photo of Emerald Ash Borer larvae in a tree

Emerald ash borer has been discovered in Polk County for the first time. The invasive pest now has been found in 68 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. Photo: Wisconsin DNR.

Paul Cigan, DNR plant pest and disease specialist
715-416-4920 or Paul.Cigan@wisconsin.gov

Emerald ash borer (EAB) was detected for the first time in Polk County this spring, making it the 68th of Wisconsin’s 72 counties in which the invasive pest was found since it was first discovered in the state in 2008.

Several green ash trees with woodpecker flecking were observed in the roadside right-of-way along 100th Avenue in the Town of Osceola during field work.

Two larvae were collected from an infested tree and officially confirmed as EAB by a USDA-APHIS identifier on May 8, 2023.

No regulatory changes have resulted from this detection because EAB was federally deregulated on Jan. 14, 2021, and Wisconsin instituted a statewide quarantine in 2018.

EAB will continue to spread in northern Wisconsin, significantly impacting the ash resource. This is a good time to review the DNR’s updated emerald ash borer webpage for information and resource links on EAB, along with the DNR’s EAB Silviculture Guidelines to become familiar with or to refresh on ash stand management options.

DATCP, DNR, UW Extension and tribal partners continue to track EAB’s spread, sharing detection information through online maps available to Wisconsin’s citizens, private businesses and governmental entities. The goal is to aid in EAB readiness planning, pest management and biological control activities.

With more than 20 new city/town/village detections already reported statewide in 2023, map updates continue to occur on a biweekly basis. To see where EAB has been found in Wisconsin or to report new municipal detections, please visit the Wisconsin EAB online detections map or PDF map.

Garlic Mustard Aphid Advances

Posted on by akabelowsky

Art Kabelowsky, DNR Forest Health outreach and communications specialist
Arthur.Kabelowsky@wisconsin.gov or 608-335-0167

Photo of garlic mustard aphids on a leaf.

Dozens of garlic mustard aphids feed on the underside of a garlic mustard leaf in Michigan. The small, dark aphids, originally from Europe, have been found in Wisconsin and other states after first being discovered in Ohio in 2021. Photo: Rebecah Troutman, Holden Forests and Gardens, Kirtland, Ohio.

A new tool in the effort to fight invasive garlic mustard appears ready to make its move in Wisconsin.

The garlic mustard aphid, Lipaphis alliariae, has been moving westward after being discovered in Ohio in 2021. Since then, isolated populations have also been found in Wisconsin, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan and Minnesota.

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USDA Biological Control Facility Seeks Ash Trees To Battle Emerald Ash Borer

Posted on by patricialindquist

Asks Landowners To Donate Infested Ash Trees

USDA staff cut a ‘bark window’ in green ash to uncover signs of emerald ash borer. Photo credit: USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is asking Wisconsin landowners for their help. Emerald ash borer (EAB) is an invasive insect from Asia that was first introduced into the United States in 2002. Since its discovery, EAB has caused the death and decline of tens of millions of ash trees. USDA uses ash trees to combat the pest to help preserve and protect the tree species.

Wisconsin landowners have donated live, infested ash trees to USDA’s EAB biological control program. The wood is used to grow EAB’s natural enemies and release them in Wisconsin and 31 other infested States as well as D.C. where they are attacking and killing EAB. USDA needs more ash trees to continue this work and is hoping more Wisconsin residents will consider donating their ash trees this year.

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Prepare — Spongy Moth Caterpillars To Return

Posted on by akabelowsky

By Bill McNee, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Oshkosh
bill.mcnee@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0942

Spongy moth caterpillars clustered below a sticky barrier.

Spongy moth caterpillars clustered below a sticky barrier. Photo: Mark Guthmiller, Wisconsin DNR

This June and July, spongy moth populations are predicted to reach damaging levels in parts of Wisconsin. Populations began to rise in 2020, and this is likely to be the third year of the pest outbreak in some regions of southern Wisconsin.

At present, damaging populations are expected to be most noticeable in southern counties, counties to the north of the city of Green Bay, and in far northern Wisconsin near Lake Superior. Additional areas are likely to have high populations that are more concentrated in size.

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