Do trees in your landscape look like toothpick holders at
restaurants? If so, they may
be under attack by Asian ambrosia beetles, which aren’t exactly
nectar from the gods.
“Ambrosia beetles are small wood-boring beetles that are really
giving us fits in
Georgia,” said Will Hudson, a University of Georgia Extension
Service entomologist.
“We’ve had serious losses all across the state, from Cairo to
Blairsville.”
The earliest signs of infestation have been in nursery
stock. “One nursery reported
losing more than 150 Bradford pear trees already,” Hudson
said.
At around $20 per tree, wholesale, that’s an expensive problem.
While the final tally
hasn’t been made for this year, Hudson expects damage and losses
to be in the “many
thousands of dollars” range.
“The beetles carry a type of fungus that infects the tree,”
Hudson said. “A young tree
that has been attacked will usually die.”
Ambrosia beetles are also undiscriminating creatures.
“They attack hundreds of different trees — really any kind of
deciduous tree or shrub
can be in danger,” he said.
Besides being voracious and undiscriminating, ambrosia beetles
are also hard to
control.
“That’s the problem,” Hudson said. “What we’ve been doing for
normal borer
treatment isn’t successful for this beetle. We don’t have a
solution to offer for this
beetle. The nurserymen are watching very closely — that’s how
we know the extent of
the problem.”
When you’re buying trees, or if you have young trees in your
landscape, look for tiny
holes the size of a pencil lead in the bark.
“Usually there will be a piece of sawdust that looks like a
toothpick sticking out, but a
good wind can blow that away,” Hudson said.
If you suspect that you have an infested tree, contact your county agent
for a proper
diagnosis.
“We don’t have a solution for ambrosia beetles once they’re in
the tree,” Hudson said.
“They’re in the heartwood and aren’t going to be susceptible to
treatment. You should
expect that the tree will die.”
Many homeowners are reluctant to cut a tree down until it’s
dead, but if you have
ambrosia beetles, be prepared for it to die.
“Call your
county
agent before you cut a tree down,” Hudson said. “Other
beetles
bore into trees — perhaps you’ll be lucky and not have the
Asian ambrosia beetle.”
