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Pest Activity -- April 6 , 2007Pest Activity > April 6 Welcome to the Woody Ornamental Pest Scouting Report for Western Pennsylvania brought to you by Penn State Cooperative Extension. This report is updated weekly with growing degree day counts and insect activity through the end of June. If you would like an email copy of this report, send your request to mcm2@psu.edu.As of April 4, the following growing degree days with a base temperature of 50 degrees have accumulated.
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Overwintering Cooley Spruce Gall Adelgids are continuing to produce the white waxy strands prior to molting. If you decide to use an insecticide to control this pest, now is the time for application, before they are protected by the white waxy excretions. The list of currently labeled insecticides for use in Pennsylvania on Douglas -fir can be found here. |
Eastern Tent Caterpillar
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Eastern Tent Caterpillar eggs have hatched in much of SW Pennsylvania. Physical removal of the egg masses and tiny larvae is the easiest control method when they can reached from the ground. Eastern tent caterpillar's primary host plants are wild cherry (Prunus pensylvanica), apple (Malus) and crabapple (Malus). Occasionally, they feed on deciduous forest and ornamental trees such as ash (Fraxinus), birch (Betula), blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica), willow (Salix), witchhazel (Hamamelis), maple (Acer), oak (Quercus), poplar (Populus), peach (Prunus), and plum (Prunus). |
Hemlock Rust Mite
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Hemlock Rust Mite are active in SW Pennsylvania at this time. |
White Vine Weevil
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Clear droplets of sap, the sign that an adult white pine weevil was feeding on the terminal leader of an eastern white pine, was observed in the city of Pittsburgh late in the week. Now is the time to apply insecticidal sprays to the tops of white pines for control of this pest. Click here for current list of insecticides labeled for use in Pennsylvania. |
| OTHER PESTS | Bittercress Now is the time to take action if you are managing lesser-seeded bittercress in the landscape. If seedpods are beginning to form, hand-weeding is the best option. If still in the flowering stage, the use of a contact herbicide, such as Reward, or a systemic herbicide like Round-up Pro will provide control. The contact herbicide will shut the plant down quicker than the systemic, but both materials need a 2 hour window of dry weather for absorption. |
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The next scouting report will be on April 13, 2007 .
