Iowa Insects & You!

*sigh* Firewood 4 Sale

All day Sunday we watched the waves of thunderstorms pass over our house, leaving behind a couple inches of rain. (Thank you!) 

Later we learned that about 20 miles up the road those storms took a nasty turn and left behind one-to-three inch hailstones. (Um, no thank you!) 

Eldora, Iowa, seems to caught the brunt of it.What does this have to do with trees? Well, besides the fact that many of the trees look like early spring because only small green stubs of leaves are left. And, many are no longer upright with roots in the ground. However, this is the sign I saw today when I drove through town, and it made me a little queasy, to say the least.

Why do I *sigh*? Because this is the perfect set up for moving tree pests, such as emerald ash borer, to new locations. NO, I'm not saying EAB is in Eldora - I'm just trying to remind everyone to buy local and burn local. 

There are consequence to our actions when we drag firewood from town to town, and state to state.

*sigh*

There is No 'Express Lane' When it Comes to Insect Surveys

...AreWeThereYet?  AreWeThereYet?  AreWeThereYet?...  Looking for EAB is much like being in a small vehicle with an inquisitive toddler. No matter how fast we're driving, it's just not fast enough for the passenger. 

I've received several calls in the past few weeks - all wanting to know why EAB-updates are lacking. The answer is not really exciting, it's not a spy-thriller movie plot - - it's just that the traps are out there and we're letting them work. (If you're into instant gratification, I'd advise against a career as an entomologist.)

USDA plans to start picking up the EAB purple traps this week, starting in southern Iowa and working their way north.  Each trap is taken down, thoroughly inspected for suspect beetles.  Suspect beetles are cleaned up (they're full of glue) and then send to USDA for further diagnostics. The process of sending suspect beetles to USDA can occur very quickly - 48 hours - if we believe it's the real thing.

And then there are the 420+ sentinel, or trap, trees established around Iowa by the DNR. Those trees will remain intact until this fall/winter, and then be individually debarked, looking for larvae. I liken it to a needle-in-a haystack kind of task if the trees are evaluated too soon - before the larvae can put some weight on, to make them easier to find.

Hang loose everyone - news will be forthcoming!

I Say Bagworm, You Say Webworm

Yep, the phone has been ringing.  This week the two popular subjects have been earwigs (not a tree pest) and bagworms (a tree pest).

Donald Lewis, Iowa State University Extension Entomologist) posted a GREAT article on bagworms back in February.  I highly recommend it to everyone.

The bagworm (or as I like to call them, Totally Organic Christmas Ornaments) appears to be having another banner year. If you can't pick them off, this is a great time to treat. Control recommendations are listed in Donald's article.

There is much confusion about between bagworms and webworms. Bagworms are quite petite, ranging from .25" to 2", elongated packets that a larva lives in, and carried around like a snail shell. Webworms are those large silken, 'webby' masses often seen at the end of tree branches in late summer. 

Bagworms harm trees.  They can eventually kill trees if left untreated.

Fall webworms are aesthetically unpleasing, but do not harm healthy, well-established trees. Remove what the structure from the tree if possible, or let Mother Nature take care of the issue in her own time.

Friends don't let tree friends carry bags. 

Photo from James B. Hanson, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

Lions, TIGERS and Bears, Oh My!

I have to hand it to my fellow Iowans, I'm impressed.  Really impressed. As a kid, I sought the elusive tiger beetle.  It taunted me while walking beans*, running just ahead of me, out of my reach. But now it seems like I'm presented a tiger beetle on a daily basis, as crafty Iowans are adept at catching them!

What's with the tiger beetle? Well, it's green and shiny, and when the combination of green and shiny show up on an insect many folks immediately think they have an emerald ash borer. But - take a close look, the head is narrower than the body.  It looks like it has a set of shoulders, no?  The emerald ash borer is smooth on the sides, like a missile, or surfboard.  No shoulders!

Here are a few links to some great picture-based screening tools for determining if you've caught an EAB beetle.

Illinois Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey diagnostic sheet (2 pages)

Insects in Minnesota That May Be Confused With EAB by Minnesota
State University Extension and Minnesota Department
of Natural Resources.  

Native Borers and EAB Look-Alikes by Michigan State University Extension

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* Walking beans = Archaic method of weed control in soybean fields AND a means of torture to all farmer's sons/daughters back in the 'old days'.

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Tiger beetle photo - Copyright 2009, Aubrey Scott
EAB photo - Howard Russell, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org

Web Links ... Get Your Hot Webs Links Here

People ask me where to find EAB information on the web on a regular basis.  And, I have a pile of links that I've found and bookmarked ... but since you don't have access to my computer, my links are not much use to you unless I share them.  Here's a run down of some new, and old standards that may interest you.  

Drs. Mark Shour and Jesse Randall at Iowa State University have put together a short document, Suggestions for Emerald Ash Borer Community Preparation.  

HOT off the presses!  ISU's new publication on EAB Management Options, PM-2084.  NOTE that right there on the first page, it says

"Treatments are suggested only if you live within 15 miles of a confirmed EAB infestation.  Treatment outside this risk zone is not prudent.  Known infestations are given at www.emeraldashborer.info."

A longer, more in-depth publication (and also brand new!),  authored by experts in several cooperating states is also available, Insecticide Options for Protecting Ash Trees from Emerald Ash Borer. 

There are several sites with great EAB-look-alike picture resources ... but I'm saving those until the next blog entry. 

Evil Flower Beds?! What the heck?

In my last post I eluded to a couple of usual culprits that often rear their ugly heads in the calls I get on dead and dying ash trees. In that post I talked about topping trees. Today’s post focuses on *evil* flower planters around tree trunks.  

 

I Googled ‘flower beds around trees’ and was presented with  286,000 hits, give or take a few, for building instructions! I admit, I did not look at all 286,000 internet hits … but, I did scan a few pages and what I saw confirmed my suspicions. It’s not popular to admit that installing flower beds under trees may not be in the tree’s best interest. In fact, an eHow website said

 

“As trees grow, they begin to compete with the lawn around them. The tree pulls the water and the nutrients from the ground, which may make certain areas of you lawn look bad. Planting a flowerbed around the tree helps the tree and the lawn.”

 

Why am I so anti-lower bed under a tree? Here’s a quote from a site hosted by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) that really says it best… 

 

“Smothering Roots by Adding Soil. Most people are surprised to learn that 90 percent of the fine roots that absorb water and minerals are in the upper 6 to 12 inches of soil. Roots require space, air, and water. Roots grow best where these requirements are met, which is usually near the soil surface. Piling soil over the root system or increasing the grade smothers the roots. It takes only a few inches of added soil to kill a sensitive mature tree.”

 

Lets review the facts of life - - If you add soil, you put the tree in distress. If you distress a tree, it becomes more vulnerable to insects and disease. The tree may go into decline ... ultimately ending in tree mortality. 

Remember the old saying, “Give a hoot, don’t pollute”? Maybe we need our own catchy saying like, "Don’t pile soil, it leads to tree turmoil"

;)

Tree Topping - - Just Say NO!

My phone has been ringing off the hook.  With last week’s announcement of an emerald ash borer (EAB) larva found in Iowa, it seems like my world currently revolves around the color green.

The calls continued to pour in today.  Generally, I try to walk the through the usual list of questions with concerned callers.  What condition is the tree in?  What symptoms are present? ... Before I could continue today, the caller told me two important things about the condition her of prized ash tree.  Today’s blog will focus on one of those issues.

The tree in question had been topped several years ago.  [Ohhhhh topping - friends don’t let friends top trees!]  For more information on this detrimental practice, you can download a great publication from Iowa State University Extension, SUL-7, Topping - Tree Care or Tree Abuse?. 

Why is topping bad?  My version of the Cliff Notes follow:

• Removing large portions of the canopy upset the balance between the foliage and the remainder of the tree.  Photosynthetic area is removed, and energy reserves in the stems branches are suddenly lost. These imbalances can lead to decline, making the tree more susceptible to cankers, root rots, other diseases and insects.
• Bark suddenly exposed to the sun may result in sunscald - and ultimately, more tree decline which leads to cankers, root rots, other diseases and insects. (sound familiar yet?)
• Large branch stubs are open invitations to insects and wood-rotting pathogens.  If decay sets into the stubs, it may continue on into the main trunk of the tree.
• Topped trees may be more susceptible to storm and wind damage. 

How can you avoid this drive-by-shooting I call topping?  Hire an Iowa Certified Arborist to care for your trees!   

The Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University have a great publication about Choosing An Arborist, RG-214.  And finally, the most up to date list of Iowa Certified Arborist is available here.   

Happy trimming everyone!  

EAB on the Mississippi River, Oh My!

You’ve probably heard by now – EAB is so close to Iowa

that we can feel it breathing down our necks.  EAB was confirmed in Victory, Wisconsin, last week. Victory sits right on the Mississippi River bank, less than one mile from the Iowa/Minnesota/Wisconsin border and directly across the River channel from Iowa. Last Thursday I stood on a boat landing, looking at an ash tree with substantial woodpecker damage and EAB galleries in the lower trunk … and then gazed across the water at Iowa, maybe 100 yards away.

Q. Did you go across the mighty Mississippi River and find EAB in Iowa?
A. Well, we went across the river thanks to assistance from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, but have not positively confirmed EAB in Iowa. I know – it sounds so easy to do – until you travel to far northern Allamakee County and take a look at the terrain.  We actually can’t get to the ‘Iowa side’ of the Mississippi River from Iowa.  There is roughly 3 miles of sloughs and river backwater that makes much of the area unpenetratable.  To get to the Iowa side of the Mississippi we had to board a boat in Wisconsin and ferry across.  The river is high, the islands are muddy and ash trees are hard to find.

Q. What happens now?
A. Hopefully we can get back to an island we’ve located with a chainsaw, and permission from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and lay down a couple of ash trees that appear to be stressed and have woodpecker damage in the upper branches.  If we can find suspect EAB larvae in those trees, we can begin the confirmation process with USDA.  But, it’s raining , and we need boats and chainsaws and landowner permission, etc, etc.  Maybe USDA will be back up this week with the proper equipment and permissions.

 

 

Hints of green grass are apparent and the April showers certainly are here. It’s spring in Iowa! And with the budding trees and singing birds, come emerald ash borer questions. Here are the two most popular questions I’ve received in recent weeks.

Q. Should I be applying preventative treatments to my ash trees now?
A. No. The Iowa Department of Agriculture is not recommending prophylactic insecticide treatments for ash trees in Iowa at this time. Only when EAB is found in Iowa, should treatments be considered. Once an infestation is found in Iowa, experts will work together to make sound recommendations based on data that is available at that point in time.

Q. Where can I buy an EAB-resistant ash tree to plant in my yard?
A. Research is underway, but there are no resistant ash trees available today. Information posted on the Morton Arboretum Tree Talk ‘Hot Topics,’ February 2009, provides insight into activities underway. While there is evidence of resistance in ash trees in China, results ready for the American market will not happen overnight. “I may not see the hybrid in my generation. Introducing trees is a multi-generational thing,” says Morton Arboretum’s Kris Bachtell, Director of Collections and Facilities. “Trees are a long term investment. It’s a deliberate, but slow process.”

EAB & Gypsy Moth at IA Shade Tree Event

In addition to announcing a unique public/private program to help educate Iowan's about the threat of the Emerald Ash Borer, Robin Pruisner, State Entomologist and Plant Science Bureau Chief of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, spoke at the opening session of the Iowa Shade Tree Short Course and members of the Iowa Nursery & Landscape Association.  Opening Session remarks were focused on invasive species including the Emerald Ash Borer and Gypsy Moth as well as others less talked about.

In a second session Robin discussed with nearly 250 professionals the EAB and Gypsy Moth Update - "Where We Are Today and What's the Crystal Ball Say for Tomorrow." 

In this session Robin explained the migration issues and introduced the EAB-ID Program that asks business owners in the nursery, landscape and tree care professions to join with public efforts to assist in spreading the word about EAB identification.  The new program offers signage to business owners and the new EAB-ID Kit which helps the public identify the borer as well as send in samples to the Department to review.

In addition to the two major speeches of the day, representatives from the Department assisted one-on-one with professionals explaining the program and signing people up for the signage and free kits. 

For more information about the 2009 EAB-ID Program and to request signs and kits contact the Entomology Division of the Iowa Department of Agriculture at 515-725-1470 or head to the Website, Iowa Tree Pests.  Orders for signs and kits need to be complete by May 1, 2009.