Top Tree Insects in Spring and Summer Months

Date August 11, 2020

Category

Author TreeNewal Staff

Here in Dallas/Fort Worth, the spring and summer months are when most trees grow and flourish. Their canopies fill out. Their flowers bloom. And if you have a fruit tree, their fruit begins to grow and ripen.

Unfortunately, the spring and summer months are also a time when common tree insects like to attack Dallas/Fort Worth trees.

How do you know if your tree is infected with tree insects, which tree insects are most common during the spring and summer months? Continue reading as our ISA-Certified Arborists and tree doctors explain below.

What Are Tree Insects?

One of the most common tree problems are infestations from tree insects. We all know that there are a lot of bugs out here in Dallas/Fort Worth, and you should rest assured that most insects aren’t tree insects that cause infestations and tree problems.

However, certain insects, especially ones that are active during spring and summer months, can cause infestations and turn your otherwise healthy tree into an unhealthy one. Here is a list of the most common tree insects that can infest your Dallas/Fort Worth trees during our spring and summer months:

  • Aphids

Aphids are tiny insects that come in a variety of colors, including orange, green, and black. Sometimes aphids, which we tree doctors refer to as “tree lice,” can be wooly, spotted, or bull-legged.

These tree insects love to feed off tree leaves and stems during the Dallas/Fort Worth spring and summer months. This can cause tree problems including improper nutrition, difficulty absorbing sunlight, and premature leaf drop.

Common symptoms that you have tree problems due to these tree insects include:

  • Curling leaves.
  • Twig dieback.
  • The presence of honeydew, which is a sugary substance on your tree.
  • Black mold on your tree that is sooty.
  • Stunted tree growth.

If you notice these signs of aphids on your trees, you should call our tree doctors right away. We can evaluate your tree and treat it by applying horticultural soap treatments and or insecticides, in some cases.

  • Cankerworms

Cankerworms are a type of caterpillar that is green or black. At maturity, they can be up to 1” long. Since these tree insects are relatively small, winds can easily carry them from tree to tree, or property to property. This means if you have cankerworms on one tree on your property, it’s likely these tree insects are causing tree problems on your other trees, too.

Cankerworms, which some of us tree doctors refer to as the “hungry, hungry caterpillar” you may remember reading to your child about when he or she was a toddler, love to feed off trees. These tree insects cause tree problems by feeding away at your trees’ leaves.

Signs of a tree infestation by these tree insects include:

  • Holes in and along the edges of your tree’s leaves.
  • Skeletonization of leaves, which is when there are “window panes” throughout your tree’s leaves.
  • A complete loss of all tree foliage, which is a sign of advanced tree problems from these tree insects.
  • Seeing caterpillars on your trees and trees’ leaves.

If you suspect you have tree problems during our spring and summer months because of cankerworms, you need to call our tree doctors right away.

  • Japanese beetles

These tree insects are rather large for beetles. They can be ⅓” to ½” long. They also have a metallic-green body and wing covers that are bronze colored. In the sunlight, they look very metallic.

Japanese beetles cause tree problems during Dallas/Fort Worth spring and summer months because they swarm tree canopies. These tree insects feed off canopy leaves, often only leaving behind the leaf skeleton.

You may be able to tell if you have tree problems caused by these tree insects if:

  • You see these large beetles swarming around your trees.
  • You see several of your tree’s leaves are chewed down all the way to their veins.
  • Leaves at the top of your tree canopy are browning.
  • Your tree is shedding leaves during the summer, especially between mid-June through August.

If you suspect tree problems caused by Japanese beetles, you need to call our ISA-Certified Arborists for help. We can fight off these tree insects by applying one to two pesticide treatments, a few weeks apart from each other.

  • Eastern tent caterpillar

Don’t let the name of these tree insects fool you. Even though they’re common in the eastern US, they can cause tree problems right here in Dallas/Fort Worth.

The eastern tent caterpillar is a tree insect that is black with a white stripe down the middle. It also has several bright blue spots on its body.

These tree insects cause tree problems during the spring and summer months because they lay their eggs in the summer, and they feast on your trees’ leaves.

Signs that you have tree problems caused by these tree insects include:

  • Seeing the caterpillars on your trees.
  • Large, silky spider webs on your trees.
  • Loss of tree leaves.

We can help treat your trees if these tree insects infest them. Our tree doctors will quickly get to work by applying a treatment to control their larvae. Additionally, you can pick them off your trees.

  • Whitefly

Whiteflies are tiny insects whose bodies are covered in white wax. They cause tree problems during the spring and summer months because they thrive in warm weather.

Whiteflies cause tree problems by setting up home on your tree leaves and sucking up tree sap.

Signs that you may have tree problems caused by whiteflies include:

  • Yellow spots on your tree’s leaves.
  • Curling tree leaves.
  • Drops of honeydew on your tree leaves.
  • The presence of ants on your tree, because ants love to eat honeydew.

Treatments that our tree doctors can use for this type of pest infestation include using a horticulture oil treatment or placing sticky traps in your affected tree.

  • Bagworms

Bagworms are tree insects made of silk. They often easily camouflage themselves in trees.

These tree insects cause tree problems in the spring and summer months in Dallas/Fort Worth because they eat tree leaves.

You may have a bagworm tree infestation if you notice these symptoms on your tree:

  • Silky webs in your tree.
  • Leaves that are chewed up.
  • Mild to severe leaf loss on your tree.
  • A dead branch on an evergreen tree that doesn’t regrow any foliage.

If you have these tree insects, our tree doctors can help. We treat this type of pest infestation by handpicking them off your tree (when possible) or applying other insect treatments, if necessary.

Call Us if Your Trees Are Showing Signs of Tree Insects

Our tree doctors are ready to help you with any pest infestation you may have during the spring and summer months in Dallas/Fort Worth. If you notice any of the above-mentioned signs of tree insects on your trees or have another reason to suspect tree infestation, call us today at tel:(817) 592-6846

To learn more about Top Tree Insects in Spring and Summer Months, call our Argyle and Southlake based teams at tel:(817) 592-6846 or send us a message.

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