Hello all!
Can anyone identify the pest hurting the trees in my area? Was it the cicadas that left this damage or some kind of worm or mite? What can be done to help the trees? Thanks in advance and as always if I don’t respond right away it doesn’t mean the post has not been read thank all again.
A bit more description then. 2 months ago I started to notice dead branches that look like they were snapped in a violent way all about 300mm in length. Cherry trees are #2 on the list, take a look around your trees and tell us if the scourge is in your trees also.
At first I thought it to be from past storm and wind power damage. I thought the oaks were still holding dead leaves from last year but the official summer approaches now and might heat and winds. I am worried about them…the trees, yes. They are leaning, drained, and calling for help. The ones that supply the forest floor with nuts and security. The mighty oaks root ball is small and they tumble before they fall.- Prota
Replies
Termites. The trees, if infected with these little buggers, are dead. Check the woodwork in your house. Mud tunnels from the soil up and over the concrete slab and up to the woodwork of your house are a sure sign that your house is infested too.
Major poisoning, and replacement of wooden parts could follow shortly-- sounds like you're in PA or thereabouts?
I could be wrong, but the symptoms you describe closely mirror my experience of these determined and hard to eliminate wood munchers very closely. It started with bits of branches and leaf dying in nearby trees as you describe, but I was in TX when that happened to me. Slainte.
Edited 6/18/2004 7:38 pm ET by Sgian Dubh
Both will kill a tree big S. Signs of this kind means something is wrong either way. I can't understand this type of intricate life eco.
The cicadas plugged into the Mighty ones but hopefully full recovery is expected. Spray them with miracle grow and pray for them. All that is left on the forest floor is wings. - Dryad
I think your cicadas are the answer. See link below and read about the tree damage. Fertilizing around the drip line will help the tree. More than likely mature trees will survive the chewing, although possible deformed. You will be amazed at the bummer acorn crops in the next few years. This is due to a tree's survival technique. When a tree is stressed and can survive, as in this case, it kicks in reproduction cycle....
Richard, you build GREAT furiture, I'd.... hummmmmm......... stick to what you are good at, building GREAT furniture....: ' >....Dale
http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/4h/cicadas.htm
Edited 6/18/2004 8:50 pm ET by Dale
Ha, ha. Maybe I will! Slainte.RJFurniture
Your ok, you made me look LoL!
All the reports said that the cicadas were harmless but it appears that is a myth. Anything this vast eerie event has taught me is the timing of it all. Down to the last week or so before the food, shelter, and future are ruined- for the insects maximum potential of survival- they dye off and consumed by everything in the woods . No more and no less.
So, if I have it straight, the larva fall out of the trees and bury themselves deeper then the frost line and then return 17 years later. 2021 would be the correct year, I hope we all can live to see it again. - Prota
Where are you located? Have you contacted local agencies? Here we'd contact either the town tree warden or our local county extension service (if it hasn't already been closed...).
indeed, it is the dreaded cicada - - they have taken time off from feasting on pets and small children to use their ovipositers to lay eggs in the twigs - shown clearly in your second photo - -
the tree/s will survive...
Calm down, it is just the Cicadas. They laid thier eggs in those end branches which will turn brown and fall to the forest floor. The larve will hatch and crawl into the ground and you will hear them again in 17 years. The trees will not die, it is all part of God's plan.
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