Wooly Aphids

I have a tri colored beech tree that was infested with wooly aphids last summer. This is a new tree. In the fall I gathered up all the leaves and disposed of them. I had used a systemic insecticide on the tree. It seems this tree variety is prone to wooly aphids. Is there anything I can do to get rid of them for good? What about those sticky traps? If I hung one of those would it help control them or are they a waste of money? I hate to keep something I have to spray all the time but I love this tree.

Has anyone had any luck getting rid of wooly aphids for good? What did you do?

Brenda

Wettable Orthene is about all I can think of but make sure you set out a bunch of ant baits.

Oops, forgot to add a link-
http://www.growersupply.com/orthene.html

Retreat in 10 days.

Hi,

I hate to sound dumb but what do ants have to do with wooly aphids? The product you recommend says it's for ants and does not mention aphids. Can you explain the connection? You must mix this powder with water to spray on the tree leaves and around the roots directly? How often do you have to repeat the process. I paid a lot of money for this tree and I really don't want to lose it.

Thanks,
Brenda

Oh my gosh, you don't sound dumb at all. I had no idea Valent had added that blurb about sprinkling their product on mounds to control exotic fire ants. They're just jumping on the band wagon to market their product as being able to kill fire ants in addition to other pests but I feel there are probably more appropriate products on the market for exotic fire ants. Orthene is phenomenal systemic in that it is not only an insecticide but a miticide. I haven't seen a photo of your little buggers but Orthene should cover all the bases and will provide residual effects to help control future infestations. I don't know where you bought that tree but I'd not buy from that nursery again.

In answer to your question about how to use Orthene, here's how I'd mix it-
1 tsp per gallon, that's it! A little bit goes a long way.
I'd mix up 5 gallons and use it as a soil drench around the base of the tree. I suppose if you want to use that mix as a foliar application you could but the soil drench should work. Now repeat in 10 days using 1/2 tsp per gallon. Incidentally, these people who sell the product are very approachable and you could call and ask them for advice, they've forgotten more than I've ever known about that product. In other words, if they offer information to you that differs from how I would use the product, go with what they say.

Forgot to mention that you should get a clothespin for your nose when using Orthene- P U !

It's pretty hard controlling outside infestations but at least this will give your tree some relief until it can establish itself and until natural predators of the wooly aphid move in.

The connection between ants and aphids is that ants farm them and protect them. If you have ants around, merely treating the wooly aphids without addressing the ants will end you up back at square one with empty pockets because your hard earned money will have taken a hike on products that can't perform.

An excerpt from here-
http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/entomology/444-220/444-220.html

This is one of the reasons why so many people are so incredibly unsuccessful ridding themselves of wooly aphids in their homes and greenhouses. As fast as you can get them under control, ants reintroduce them. It would be my suggestion that you pick up a bunch of ant baits and strategically place them in and around that tree. The ants are probably your vector.

Thanks so much for your further explanation. I know the tree had the aphids on it when they delivered it because I saw it on the leaves. The nurseryman seems to accept that this particular tree just gets aphids and you have to put up with it and treat it. I have this same tree at my other house downstate and it has never had anything ever and I've had it for probably 7 years or longer and it was a 12 year old specimen when I bought it. I wish I could have dug it up and moved it with me but it was too big.

We are in deep winter here and there is ice all over everything. When you would recommend starting this ant treatment? What month? How many times a season would you do this treatment? Should I do this every year?

I'm off to go order this stuff now.

Ummm, I don't think a wooly aphid infested Beech is acceptable. Go on over to the Trees forum and ask. What you posted was a first for me but there are quite a few professors over in the tree forum now, as well as several arborists who really know their stuff, and a few members who literally "wrote the books" on these types of issues so they'd be in a better position to answer any questions you may have pertaining to Beech and aphids. I'm more into native herbaceous plants and wetlands and they're more into woodies (trees and shrubs) and woodlands.

Regarding all the rest of your questions. You got me. I've never had to treat a tree before but... I have received infested plants that were planted outside that infected other plants and I successfully used soil drenches to rid them of ickies and nasties using Orthene which is why wettable Orthene was about all I could think of to tackle this. If it were me, I'd wait until the tree started to leaf out which is right around the time the outer air temps are consistently above freezing. I'd retreat it in 10 days and sit back and wait it out. Recheck your tree in 6-8 weeks and go from there. If you see no activity, leave it be and just check from time to time. Keep up with the ant baits.

Thanks. I ordered the Orthene. I'll get some ant traps too. I'll have to fence it off so my little dogs don't get into the ant traps. They are so nosey. :) I am very grateful for the advice. I'll bookmark that supply company also and lean on them if I have any more problems with the aphids.

I have about a gazallion of those little beetle bugs that resemble lady bugs. Somehow they have got into the house. I don't know how to get rid of them. They are such a nuisance. Too bad they don't eat aphids. :) I think the state of Michigan introduced them to try to eat some other bug and they hung around and multiplied like crazy. Most annoying!

Brenda

Nope, the state of Michigan didn't introduce them. Do you per chance have a lot of Buckthorn around you? Yup, there's a relationship between the Japanese Lady Beetle and Rhamnus spp.

Go to the PlantFiles tab and click on Search and Browse and then click on Specific Search and type the word Rhamnus in the area provided for Genus. See if any of these smaller trees (around 20-25') look familiar to you.

Some of the pictures kind of look familiar. I'll have to be more observant when I'm walking through the woods. I know these beetles are very prolific and annoying. They just don't die. When I see them I squish them with kleenix and they smell bad when you bust them. Yuck. I don't suppose there is any chance the ash borer would just eat the beetles eh? Ha! I thought not. Now, if we could get the ash borer to change it's appetite and eat the Buckthorns and the beetles would go away.

Now there you go! Unfortunately the EAB has very discriminating tastes and exclusively sticks to Ash species. Pity it doesn't like Buckthorn now isn't it.

When I find Japanese Lady Beetles, I feed them to some of my plants. Yum yum. Check out Sarracenia in the PlantFiles. You can also probably look those plants up by searching for tall pitcher plants. Beautiful plants and I just love making sure mine get well fed.