Top 10 Insects
Our treatments manage the most common insects in Central Minnesota.
Aphids
Aphids can damage a variety of plants by curling and distorting leaves, stunting growth and causing chlorosis (yellowing of leaves). This insect can be very damaging to plants when populations go unchecked. Monitoring and spray treatments are effective for control.
TREATMENT: Spray Applications, Soil Injections
Ash Flower Gall Mites
A conspicuous aesthetic problem found in many ash trees. Mite activity stimulates the formation of green colored galls that turn brown and persist. Galls are chiefly an aesthetic problem but can cause a decline in the health of heavily infested trees. Control of the flower galls is difficult, and most treatments focus on increasing the vitality of susceptible trees. You must treat during flowering to have any chance for success.
Birch Leafminer
This insect can be very damaging to birch foliage in May and June. It causes brown patches on leaves which expand and can kill them entirely. Repeated defoliation can tax the vitality of young birches. Damage can be prevented with several methods of treatment to maximize effectiveness and minimize environmental impact.
TREATMENT: Direct Injections, Soil Injections in the spring
Bronze Birch Borer
Birch trees in urban environments are often stressed, which attracts these insects. Bronze birch borer larvae feed on the inner bark, causing the canopy to thin
and die back. A comprehensive treatment plan should include insecticide applications, regular fertilization, mulching and pruning to remove infected branches.
TREATMENT: Soil Injections, Direct Injections in the spring
Honey Locust Plant Bug
High populations of this insect have been found in recent years. Outbreaks can defoliate a mature tree within weeks after leaves emerge in late spring.
Control of this insect can be attempted in a variety of manners, but is very sporatic.
TREATMENT: Spray Applications, Soil Injections
Best approach is to treat preventatively with a spring soil treatment.
Mites
Mites can be found on nearly every coniferous plant in the landscape. Mite populations can explode in a single season with hot, dry conditions, and will turn interior foliage yellow to rust brown. With established populations, a long-term treatment and monitoring program needs to be maintained for adequate control.
TREATMENT: Spray Applications
Sawflies
Sawflies are very damaging to mugho pines. They can also affect other pine and spruce trees by consuming needles in feeding groups. This insect can disfigure and shorten the life of a young spruce or pine. Treatment and properly timed monitoring can easily control this insect actively in May.
TREATMENT: Spray Applications
Scale Insects
Several species of scale insects damage many common landscape plants. Scale insects attach themselves to a plant beneath a protective cover, making control more difficult. They feed on sap, reducing plant vitality and causing dieback. Treatment must be tailored to the species of scale insect.
TREATMENT: Spray Applications, Soil Injections
Spruce Gall Adelgids
Adelgids are insects whose feeding stimulates gall formation in spruce trees. The galls resemble pineapples and shelter young insects. Gall formation can make a young tree unsightly and can kill branches. A single spray treatment in the early spring provides effective control.
TREATMENT: Spray Applications, Soil Injections
Two-Lined Chestnut Borer in Oaks
Damage from this insect, which is attracted to stressed oak trees, can be difficult to distinguish from oak wilt and drought stress. Two-lined chestnut borer feeding causes branches to thin and die back. Control often requires repeated insecticide applications coupled with the removal of infected branches.
TREATMENT: Soil Injections only