Emerald Ash Borer - Informational Video

Emerald Ash Borer

The pest that we thought would not come to NC has arrived.  Emerald Ash Borers have been found in a few of the counties along the Virginia borer and NCDA&CS/NCFS have quarantined these areas to help reduce the chance of their movement into other areas of the state.   The link below will provide you with an informational video regarding this pest:

https://archive.org/details/gov.usda.aphis.green.menace

The following article describes what the NC Forest Service is doing to keep the Emerald Ash Borer from moving.  http://www.ncforestservice.gov/forest_health/fh_eabfaq.htm.


For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Boring Times are Upon Us

ORNAMENTALS AND TURF

From: Steven Frank, Extension Entomologist

Boring Times are Upon Us

A number of clearwing borers are active that can damage ornamental trees and shrubs. This week we captured over a hundred lesser peach tree borers in a single trap. The lesser peachtree borer, Synanthedon pictipes LPTB, is primarily a pest of peach and cherry trees including ornamental cherry. We also caught a lot of dogwood borers, Synanthedon scitula. Dogwood borers have a wide host range that includes dogwood (Cornus florida), but also cherry and apple. In both species adults emerge from tree trunks in spring (now!) and lay eggs on the bark of host trees. Larvae hatch and bore through bark and into trees. Existing bark damage is a preferred oviposition site. The primary means of prevention for susceptible trees is maintaining healthy trees and protecting trees from mechanical damage to bark. In addition, a contact insecticide such as permethrin can be sprayed on tree bark to deter oviposition and successful entry by larvae.

Traps in WNC are also being monitored- an update will be available soon.


For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Ash Borer a.k.a. Lilac Borer

The pest to look out for this week is the Ash borer or more commonly known as the Lilac Borer.
The ash borer is one of the clearwing moths that resemble a wasp as an adult. They overwinter as late enstar larvae in the wood, usually nearer to the base of the plant. They pupate in the stems and emerge as adults in May/June, roughly. Heavily damaged trees and shrubs should be removed. Preventive bark sprays may help in May and June
For more information about this borer please visitAsh Borer or VT- Ash Borer

For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Another Boring Insect?- Iris Borers

Iris borer damage begins in the foliage and may be evident now. Most of the time, the damage is to rhizomes discovered when people dig them to transplant during the summer. The moths emerge in late summer to mate and lay eggs on the oldest, roughest, dead and bleached iris leaves or on plants nearby. The eggs hatch the following spring. The tiny caterpillars first feed on the new foliage and sometimes cause the margins of the leaves to be ragged. The holes caused by the young caterpillars bleed causing deposits of sap on the leaves. The caterpillars then mine in the leaves for a time before working downward toward the rhizomes. The caterpillars are about half grown by the time they reach the rhizome. There they feed on the edge or on the underside of the rhizome, sometimes boring inside. Often a single caterpillar may completely the insides of a rhizome before moving to another. The mature caterpillars are pale yellow/pink to pink in color with brown heads.

To control the iris borer, it is important to remove all old iris leaves and other plant rubbish from the beds in early spring before new growth emerges. If the borers are discovered later in thehttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif spring, it may be possible to crush the caterpillars with the thumb and finger inside the leaf. By holding the injured leaf so that the sun shines on the far side, the silhouette of the small caterpillar should be easily visible through the leaf. John Weidhaas at Virginia Tech University has determined that Sevin and malathion give good control of the iris borer when these pesticides are applied early while the caterpillars are feeding on the outside of the leaves. (It may be late for this, now.) For more information and treatment suggestions, see Ornamental and Turf Insect Note No. 46 at Iris Borer

For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.