Tree Pest Service in Kamloops

Cherry Fruit Fly

Fly

Begins to emerge from pupae in the soil in early June and continues to emerge throughout August. The fly begins laying eggs under the skin of cherries when the fruit first turns red.

Maggots

White maggots that bore out of the cherries drop to the ground and pupate near the surface of the soil.

Moths

White maggots that bore out of the cherries drop to the ground and pupate near the surface of the soil.

Plants Attacked

The fruit fly attacks mainly cherry trees, but can attack other fruit trees as well.

Detection

Cherry fruit fly traps provide the most reliable method for detecting adult black or western cherry fruit flies in commercial or backyard cherry plantings throughout the growing season. The traps should be installed before June 1.

Chemical Control

For good results apply two sprays of Admire. Application should be done in early June and mid June for good results.

Prevention Sanitation

In order to maintain proper control of the cherry fruit fly problem in Kamloops, all fruit must be picked and either used or destroyed. Cherries left on the ground provide a hatching or breeding ground and will contribute to the problem. For tree service, the trees should be kept to an average size in order to get good spray coverage.

Codling Moth

Egg

The codling moth egg is almost transparent and measures 1 to 1.2mm in diameter.

Larva

Immature larvae are very small, about 2mm long and 0.5mm in diameter. The mature larvae are white and its head is brown.

Pupa

The brown pupa varies in length from 10 to 12mm with a width of 3mm.

Adult

Adult moth is about 19mm across the expanded wings and 9mm long with the wings folded. It is gray-brown, crisscrossed with fine alternating gray and white bands. Near the tips of forewings are bronzed areas characteristic of the codling moth. Codling moth overwinters as mature larvae in tightly constructed silken cocoons located principally under loose bark on the tree trunk and larger limbs.

Plants Attacked

The larvae of the insect feed on the fruit of apple, pear, and crab-apple trees. The damage destroys the fruit, but causes no problem to the tree.

Monitoring

At full bloom, use one pheromone trap per 10 acres of orchard or property. Check for first generation damage in mid-July by searching for apples with frass. This will help determine the potential of the second generation.

Chemical Control

Zolone F500 and Imidan 50WP will protect the fruit for ten days. Use two sprays in late June (when evening temperature is 12C) and late July, or if possible threes sprays in late June, mid-July and mid-August. Spray the foliage and fruit of susceptible trees such as apple, pear and crab-apple with the proper pesticide.

Prevention & Sanitation

Remove all apples from the ground. Use corrugated cardboard on the trunk. Remove and replace the bands in late July and in late fall.

Leaf Roller

Egg Stage

There are about 150 eggs laid on small branches. The eggs are tan to white, and round in shape. Egg hatch occurs in early to late May or early June.

Larvae Stage

The larvae are light to dark green with a dark head. They will wiggle backwards when disturbed.

Adult Stage

Fruit tree leaf roller moths are about 12mm long with a bell-shaped, pattern of gold, tan and white on the forewings.

Plants Attacked

Leaf rollers attack deciduous trees, shrubs and of course all fruit trees. Newly hatched larvae release silken threads so they can float on the wind. Larvae enter buds and feed on flower parts, moving into leaves after bloom. They feed on leaves and nearby fruit. Mature larvae pupate within leaf rolls. Adults emerge from June to August.

Damage

Buds have small entry holes and chewed petals and flower parts. Blossom petals will web together and often stay that way until petal fall. Leaves will be chewed, rolled and tied together with silk. Fruit will have deep irregular holes in small fruit that results in russeting scars on skin.

Chemical Control

Apply an insecticide spray in the spring when the larvae are active. A second spray may be needed in areas where insect populations are high. The timing of these sprays on fruit trees is very important. They are usually the first problem to appear in fruit trees and shrubs.

Biological & Physical

Dipel, Foray and BT Bacteria can be used. The toxin makes holes in the gut lining poisoning small caterpillers which causes them to stop feeding on the plants. Timing of these products is critical; apply one application during late bloom is best.

Spider Mites

Description

European red mite Panonychus ulm, twospotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae, and spruce spider mite Oligonychus ununguis

Spider mites are very small (.1 - .5 mm), red and white, round spider-like (eight legs) creatures found in fine webs and underneath leaves. The eggs hatch in spring as the weather warms. There are several generations of mites each year. During the hot, dry part of the summer, the completion of one generation may require only two weeks. They thrive in hot, dry weather.

Plants Attacked

• Fruit Trees
• Berries
• Grapes
• Houseplants (Red Spider Mite)
• Beans
• Corn
• Cucumbers
• Melons
• Tomato
• Eggplant
• Celery
• Onion
• Roses
• Cedars (Especially White Cedars)
• Arborvitae
• Carnations
• Chrysanthemums
• Crab-Apple
• Juniper
• Mountain Ash
• Spruce
• Sweet Peas
• Snapdragons
• Violets
• Fuschia

Damage

Mites damage plants by sucking juices, causing leaves or needles to turn brown and drop off. This results in reduced plant vigour and unsightly appearance of the tree or shrub. Leaves are mottled, bronzed or yellow, webbed and crinkly. Leaves look dusty.

Control

Dormant sprays are effective in killing both overwintering mites as well as eggs. Summer sprays with a miticide can also give control. Two sprays should be applied approximately ten days apart. When mites build up again later, the two sprays at ten days apart should be repeated.

It is also helpful to clean up weeds in the vicinity. Wood ashes around the base of plants may repel. Cold water can be misted inside the plants and sprayed on the undersides of the leaves.

Tent Caterpillar

Description

Tent caterpillars are a pale blue and black colour with a series of white spots on their backs. The adult moth is a yellow-brown colour. The eastern tent caterpillars are hairy, brownish-black with a light stripe down the back. The adult moths are usually a reddish-brown colour, but can be yellow-brown as well. The western tent caterpillar tends to be reddish-brown on top and pale underneath. They have a row of blue spots on their backs, with orange spots interspersed in between.

Plants Attacked

The eastern tent caterpillar feeds on cherry, apple and crabapple trees. The western tent caterpillar chooses willow, poplar, apple, plum, cherry and oak trees.

Damage

Tent caterpillars can cause severe damage, often early defoliating the entire tree. If damage is minor, the tree can bud again later in the summer, but if severe enough, the tree may take up to two years to recover.

Chemical Control

A dormant oil spray may be used on susceptible trees in late winter to smother the eggs before they hatch in early spring. Products that can be used are as follows: malathion, diazinon, carbaryl and permethrin are registered. Spraying in the evening is best as the caterpillars return to the nesting area at nighttime.

Biological/Physical

The bacterium Btu (Bacillus thuringiensis) is a selective insecticide.

In the summer, you can destroy egg cases and cocoons by scraping them with a knife or by burning them.

In the spring, if webs are present, wipe the affected branch with an unlit cloth soaked in kerosene. When tents are fairly large, cut off the infested branches and burn or crush individual webs.

Tussock Moth

Description

Orgyia pseudotsugata (Douglas-fir tussock moth). The tussock moth has a 1 year life cycle. They overwinter as eggs.

Egg Stage

About 200 eggs are laid on the empty female cocoon, in a mass, embedded in a frothy “cement”. The eggs are white, and spherical in shape. Egg hatch occurs in late May or early June.

Larvae Stage

The larvae measure can measure up to 30 mm long with a glossy black head. The body is hairy, grey and black with small red tubercles and a broken orange-yellow stripe on each side. On the fore-part of the body are two prominent black lateral pencil-tufts that look like horns. Larvae feed voraciously on the foliage until late July.

Pupa Stage

The larva spins a 20-25 mm long grey-brown spindle shaped cocoon of silk and larval hairs in which it changes into a stout brown pupa. Tussock moth cocoons are usually found on the lower sides of foliage and twigs. During infestations they can also be found on tree boles, fences and nearby buildings.

Adult Stage

The grey to dark brown female moth has a stout abdomen and is wingless, and about 16 mm long. The male has a slender body and a wingspan of up to 32 mm.

Trees Affected

The following trees are commonly affected: Douglas and true firs, and ornamental spruce. Ponderosa pine and western larch adjacent to infested Douglas fir trees have occasionally been severely defoliated during epidemics.

Damage

Larvae feed from the top of the tree, causing defoliation from the top down. The hairs of the caterpillars can cause swelling on the skin of allergic persons (Tussockosis).

Control

An insecticide spray should be applied in the spring when the larvae are active. Control on large trees is difficult. There is an internal application of systemic insecticide (ACE caps) available which is most beneficial if inserted in early May. This eliminates spraying, and is more environmentally safe. ACE caps are recommended for use on ornamentals and evergreens but are not for use on fruit trees.

Wooly Apple Aphid

Description

Reddish to brown in color, up to 2 mm long and covered with a cottony-like white wax. They do not infest leaves. When squashed they leave a red residue.

Plants Attacked

• Apple
• Pear Hawthorn
• Mountain Ash
• Cotoneaster

Damage

Aphids colonize around wounds on limbs. They can cause bark to crack. Honeydew may drip on fruit that causes russet spots and blackened lenticels. The feeding from the mites causes galls or swollen enlargements on roots. Heavy infestation can reduce growth and cause death. Root colonies on bearing trees cause re-infestations each year.

Lifecycles

Adults overwinter on roots and in protected sites on tree. In spring, young aphids crawl to new sites. There are several generations per year. Dispersion between trees occurs by wind or birds.

Monitoring

Inspect trees in August to see if infestation is general and severe enough to threaten fruit. No treatment thresholds have been established for woolly apple aphids. Begin monitoring in midsummer or earlier during mild winters.

Control

Treat perennial cankers and remove suckers in summer to eliminate a source of population development. Prune out water sprouts in August and paint large pruning cuts with commercial pruning paint to discourage aphid populations.