Pest Activity -- May 11, 2001

Pest Activity > Pest Activity Archives > May 11, 2001

Welcome to the Woody Ornamental Pest Scouting Report for Western Pennsylvania for May 11, 2001, brought to you by Penn State Cooperative Extension and the PA IPM Program.This tape will be 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 May 9, the following growing degree days using a base temperature of 50 degrees have accumulated:

Wexford	280
Uniontown	422
New Stanton	312
Butler	232

Pine Needle Scale crawlers are beginning to migrate in Sewickley, the city of Pittsburgh and in Westmoreland county. Now is the time to check the needles of Mugo, Scotch, Red and Austrian pines for tiny red crawlers migrating from beneath the scale covering to a new site. Two applications of a pesticide are recommended if you are trying to control a heavy infestation of this scale insect.

Damage from Birch leafminer larvae is evident in all parts of southwest Pennsylvania. There are several generations per year of this leafmining sawfly, but only the first generation warrant control. A systemic insecticide should be used to kill the developing larvae.

Spruce spider mite remain active on conifers. Some of their preferred hosts are spruce, arborvitae, junipers, hemlocks, and Douglas-fir.

New mines resulting from the activity of the Inkberry leafminer were observed on the leaves of inkberry holly in Westmoreland County this past week. This is a key pest of Ilex glabra or inkberry holly with two generations per year occurring in western Pennsylvania. The second generation occurs from mid-August to mid September.

Boxwood Psyllid nymphs and a few adults were observed in Pittsburgh this past week. Thgeir feeding damage results in the cupping of the terminal leaves. Treatment should be applied now before all the nymphs become adults.

Eastern Tent Caterpillars in Allegheny County are 1- 11/4" long at this time and actively devouring the leaves in the near vacinity of their tents.

European Pine Sawfly larvae in Westmoreland county are 1/2to 3/4 inch long and continue to feed on last year's terminal growth. Their preferred host plants are Scotch, Japanese Red and Mugo Pines.

Sphaeropsis Tip Blight -- Photo courtesy of Michael Masiuk

If Sphaeropsis Tip Blight. (previously called Diplodia) was a serious problem last year on Mugo, Scotch, or Austrian Pines, fungicide applications should be applied on a 10-14 day interval until the needles reach full size.

 

 

 

 

The next tape update will be on Friday, May 18th.