Insecticide For Maple Trees

Maple trees are mainly hardy and easy enough to care for. However, the sap can attract insects like aphids and borers. These insects cause problems upon the trunk, limbs, leaves and seeds of a maple tree. You should use an insecticide for maple trees or biological control to get rid of these pests.

Insecticide For Maple Trees

Insect Pests

Aphids: Aphids are soft-bodied insects that range from ¹/₁₆ to ⅜ inch long. They may be green, yellowish, pink, gray, or black. They feed by piercing plant tissue and sucking plant sap. They prefer feeding on new growth in such areas as shoots, buds, and the undersides of leaves. As they feed on plant sap, they excrete honeydew (a sugary waste material). The sooty mold fungus grows on the honeydew, resulting in unsightly, dark fungal growth.

Woolly alder aphid (Paraprociphilus tessellatus) is gray to black in color. It gets its name from the fluffy, white wax found on its abdomen. It requires alder and silver maple to complete its life cycle. Occasionally, it is found on red maple. Colonies of these pests are obvious because of their white, fuzzy appearance. They are usually seen on leaves, twigs, or bark. Although infested leaves shrivel and drop early, the pests cause little permanent damage. As a result of the honeydew, sidewalks and cars become sticky.

Prevention & Treatment: Several natural enemies, such as ladybird beetles (ladybugs) and lacewings, feed on aphids. These predators should be allowed to reduce aphid populations as much as possible. Controlling this pest on a large tree using chemicals is expensive and often not practical. Since little permanent damage results from woolly alder aphids, tolerating some damage is a good choice. As a result of their phenomenal ability to reproduce, aphids are very difficult to control with insecticides. Leaving one aphid alive can result in the production of a new colony very quickly. In addition, the use of insecticides kills the beneficial insects that normally keep aphid populations under control.

However, if natural predators do not reduce aphid populations sufficiently, the following foliar spray insecticides are recommended: cyfluthrin, cyhalothrin, permethrin, bifenthrin, pyrethrin, and neem oil. Treat when aphids appear and repeat at seven- to 10-day intervals if needed. As an alternative, dinotefuran or imidacloprid can be applied as a drench around the root zone of aphid-infested plants and is systemically taken up by the root system for insect control (see Table 1 for specific products). As with all pesticides, read and follow all label directions and precautions.

Scale: Many scale species, including Pulvinaria acericola, Pulvinaria innumerabilis, and Melanaspis tenebricosa, are pests of maples. Scales are unusual insects in appearance. They are small and immobile, with no visible legs. Scales vary in appearance depending on age, sex, and species. Some are flat and appear like scales stuck to a plant, while others appear like white cottony masses. They feed on sap by piercing and sucking the leaf, stem, or branch with their mouthparts. Their feeding can weaken or kill branches. Heavily-infested trees are stunted with small flowers and leaves. Leaves may turn yellow and drop early.

Like aphids, soft scales, such as Pulvinaria species, also excrete honeydew. The growth of the sooty mold fungus on the honeydew results in leaves that are dark grayish-black. Armored scales, such as Melanaspis tenebricosa, do not excrete honeydew, as they feed differently than the soft scales.

Prevention & Treatment: A combination of various natural enemies, including ladybird beetles (ladybugs) and parasitic wasps, usually keeps scales under control. On small trees with light infestations, scales can be scraped off, or the infested branches can be removed and destroyed. On a large tree, it is not always practical to control scale chemically. The size of the tree, the need for specialized equipment, and the cost may prohibit this approach. Adult scales are relatively protected from insecticides by their waxy covering. Their immature forms, called crawlers, are susceptible, however. If it is determined that chemical control is necessary, the recommended chemicals include the following: cyfluthrin, cyhalothrin, bifenthrin, or permethrin. Apply materials when crawlers appear and repeat in 10 days. Both soft and armored scales can be controlled by a soil drench with dinotefuran. Soil drench applications are best made in the spring as new plant growth appears. See Table 1 for specific products. As with all pesticides, read and follow all label instructions and precautions.

Gall Makers: Maples often develop irregular growths or swellings known as galls on their leaves. Gall development is a reaction by the leaf tissue to feeding or egg-laying by various mites (such as Vasates quadripedes and Vasates aceriscrumena) and insects (such as Acericecis ocellaris and Cecidomyia ocellaris). Galls vary greatly in appearance, from wart-like bumps to spindle-shaped protrusions to felt-like patches on the leaf’s surface. Each insect or mite produces its own distinctive gall shape. Often the distinctive shape allows for the identification of the pest. Galls typically develop in spring at about the time that leaves are expanding. Once the gall forms, the pest is protected inside the structure. When homeowners see these growths on the leaves of their maples, they often become quite concerned. It is important to remember that while unsightly, they do not cause permanent injury to a tree.

Prevention & Treatment: Since leaf galls do little, if any, long-term damage to the tree, control efforts are typically not needed or recommended. If a tree is small, the homeowner can handpick and destroy leaves before exit holes form to allow the release of the pest.

Asian Ambrosia Beetles: Japanese maples are among the more common hosts of the granulate ambrosia beetle (Xylosandrus crassiusculus), with other hosts including styrax, ornamental cherry (especially Yoshino), pecan, peach, plum, dogwood, persimmon, sweetgum, magnolia, fig, Chinese elm, and azalea. This pest is attracted not only to damaged, stressed, or transplanted trees but to seemingly healthy trees as well. The beetle becomes active in early March (or earlier), and the female beetles bore into trunks or branch wood of thin-barked hardwood trees. Once a tree has been attacked, it becomes more attractive to further attack. Often these trees are less than four inches in diameter.

Visible symptoms include wilted foliage, as well as the toothpick-like strands of boring dust (frass) that protrude from these small, pencil-lead size holes. The Asian ambrosia beetle does not feed upon the host’s wood but instead carries with it an ambrosia fungus, which grows within the galleries made by the beetle. This fungus serves as a source of food and may partially be responsible for the death of the host plant.

Prevention & Treatment: Heavily infested plants should be removed. If only a few branches are infested, they may be cut out. The life cycle takes approximately 55 days until the emergence of the next generation of beetles, so prompt removal or burning of the wood is important. Protective sprays on other susceptible plants may reduce their spread. Permethrin may be used as a trunk and scaffold limb spray beginning in March (see Table 1 for specific products). Thoroughly wet the bark. Multiple treatments may be needed during a season. Research indicates that spraying the infested trunks with permethrin may cause the beetles to leave the galleries they have already created. Since the beetles do not consume the host plant material, dinotefuran and imidacloprid systemic soil treatments are ineffective.

Insecticide For Maple Trees

Maple trees are a common sight in many neighborhoods, and they can be beautiful additions to your property. Unfortunately, maple trees are also sometimes susceptible to pests that can threaten the health of your tree and cause damage to your property. If you’re concerned about these pests, you might be wondering whether insecticide for maple trees is an option for you. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the benefits and drawbacks of using insecticide for maple trees on your property.

Benefits of Insecticide for Maple Trees

The use of insecticide for maple trees has several benefits:

It can help protect against insects that threaten the health of your tree, such as aphids and borers;

It can protect against other pests such as mites, scales, and spider mites;

It can help control diseases like leaf blister; and

It can prevent ants from making nests inside of the tree’s bark or branches.

List Of Insecticide For Maple Trees