Girdled Trees and Hungry Bugs

[ibby458]

I was going thru my woods with chainsaw in hand and mayhem in my mind last week, looking for sugar wood for next season. I fetched up at a 12" sugar maple that the porky had completely girdled last winter. There is NO bark in a band 18" to 30" wide completly around the tree.

So - Way was it completly leafed out? I don't mean some leaves, or even quite a few - it had just as many, just as green as the one right next to it the same size. I left it for now, but gotta wonder about it's survival.

THe catapiller damage was light. I'd say overall a 10% leaf loss. Some trees might have been 25%, others had no damage that I could see. Could it be that having a VERY mixed forerst keeps their numbers down? THey seemed to hit the cherry trees harder.

[Pete33Vt]

First thing I would do is find porky, Get rid of him fast, then try some tree paint the kind they use when cutting off a few branches, Paint damaged area, Then wait an watch trees progress though the year if it looks healthy then I would tap in the spring.

[ibby458]

The boys sent 3 of them to the happy hunting grounds last winter. I have a standing $10 bounty on them, and that buys a lot of .22 shells so the boys are quite vigilant in looking for them.

[forester1]

The tree is doomed. It leafed out with the energy reserves already above the girdled area. Sometimes trees can live two or three years after girdling.

[cncaboose]

A couple of caterpillar comments. Having the mixed forest almost certainly helps keep the damage down. In all types of agriculture, having mixed crops reduces the insect damage to most or all crops. Your cherry trees may have been hit harder since they are more likely attacked by the Eastern Tent Caterpillar, which prefers black cherry and often strips entire trees, than the Forest Tent Caterpillar, which prefers sugar maples. If you saw any of the actual tents spun in the cherry trees, it confirms the presence of the Eastern Tent Caterpillars. They also love apple trees. Forest tent caterpillars do not spin tents. The caterpillars themselves of the 2 different bugs are a lot alike and frequently can be found together on trees. The Eastern has a light colored line down the middle of its back while the Forest has a series of light colored dots down its back. I hope this is helpful.

[ibby458]

Ian, you're most certainly right. There was tents in the cherry trees, but not in the maples. Interstingly, The few wild apple trees scattered thru the woods were not touched, but the popple trees took a hard hit. Must be the bugs don't read the same books we do and don't know what they're supposed to like.

Heard on the radio this morning that lots of the catapillers had natural fungus and other infections, Nature corrects itself again.

[cncaboose]

Ibby, There was a massive dieoff of the forest tent caterpillars both at my home and in the woods here in Canton. Thousands of dead caterpillars hanging in and on the trees, most likely from what is called "nuclear polyhedral virus". Fred Henderson saw it in the woods with me a couple of weeks ago and was impressed with the carnage. I'm hoping there was enough death to prevent an outbreak next year. Prior to the die off, there was defoliation ranging from 10-80% on the maples.

[markcasper]

I was out in the woods yesterday morning and noticed a 6 inch diameter, very bushy sugar maple along the edge......the leaves were looking very black and shriveled about 1/3 of the way up and all the way from there to the top. The rest of the bush, from what I could tell looked fine with very robust green leaves everywhere.

Since I am from western Wisconsin, I have never witnessed any caterpillar outbreaks, pear thrips, or any other defoliation attacks. At least not to date. We are fortunate in that respect and as well too that the gypsy moths seemed to have kept to the eastern part of the state.

I was wondering if anybody may know what is causing the leaves to turn black. It looks as if someone has sprinkled black pen ink all over it. The whole tree and trunk look good, no cracks andam stumped as if this may be the beginning to something worse to come. Mark

[Parker]

Looking thru my "Sugarbush managment: A guid to maintaining tree health, Noth american sugar maple decline project" book I came across ANTHRACNOSE,,,it says " the most important leaf disease of maple, occasionally becomes damaging following sevral days of wet weather. the symptoms are scattered, reddish brown dead areas along leaf veins. These lesions may enlarge rapidily and merge with other spots to cover most or all the leaf surface. Dead areas may show irregular zoning and turn black or grey. severly affected trees appeared scorched. small brown fruiting bodies of the causal fungi (the most commonone is AUREOBASIDIUM APOCRYPTUM) confrim the diagnosos of anthracnose and distinguish it from" leaf scorch" caused by draught or heat injury. control treatments usually are not recomended......

[ibby458]

I had heard that this is the 3rd year of the 3 year cycle for the catapillers, and wondered what the limiting factor was to cause the population crash. Perhaps it's that "bug" that the bug gets. We can only hope.

I've had Anthracnose in my pepper plants, and it's devastating. Hope Maples can shrug it off better!

[markcasper]

Parker, I have that same book, so maybe should take a look. Its been very dry here, a moderate drought I'd say. We have only had 7/10"s of rain in the last 5 weeks. Sure wish we could get some of the rain everyone out east has had! Mark

[Parker]

You are more than welcom to it..........................

[Pete33Vt]

TAKE IT MARK!!!! Please

[markcasper]

No rain at all in the last 8 days.! Everythings burning up thats not in a swail that contains clay. Mark

[Parker]

N o rain here for a few days,,the corn is starting to catch up to where it should be...mabey the maples will like this weather???LOTS OF SWEET SAP NEXT YEAR....