While some insects provide benefits to nature, including pollination and natural pest control, others are more troublesome, causing extensive damage to tree populations. While tree services can help remove dead or infected trees, learning to identify non-beneficial insects early is critical to ensuring the health of your yard. 

Pests That Can Harm Your Trees

1. Aphids

Aphids are small green insects, typically pear-shaped, with long slender legs. While aphids aren't typically a danger in small numbers, their quick reproduction can easily turn a small population into an infestation within weeks. Aphids are commonly found on the underside of leaves where they suck sap from the plant, depleting it of valuable nutrients. Large colonies of aphids can quickly drain a healthy tree of its sap, causing leaf curl, wilting, and even dieback of the tree's shoots and buds. 

2. Bark Beetles

The U.S. is home to 600 different species of bark beetle, including the shothole borer and the emerald ash borer. These beetles typically average one-quarter inch in length and have hard, cylindrical bodies.

They are commonly found beneath the bark where they bore in to lay their eggs. Because bark beetles lay hundreds of eggs, they can quickly damage a tree from the inside out. While many species live in dead, weakened, or dying wood, some, such as the mountain pine beetle, kill live trees, requiring tree services to remove them to prevent further spread.

3. Leafhoppers

Adult leafhoppers are small, approximately one-eighth to one-quarter inch long with slender wings and are typically green with gold or yellow banding.

Leafhoppers feed on chlorophyll from the upper surfaces of terminal leaves, resulting in course, white stippling. Tender and fruit-bearing trees, such as cottonwood, willow, cherry, and apple, are often the most sensitive to leafhoppers, experiencing leaf curl or stunted leaf and fruit production. Some species may transmit bacteria capable of causing scorch-like symptoms on elm, maple, mulberry, and oak trees.

If your trees have been damaged by a pest infestation, contact the reliable and knowledgeable team at Todd's Tip Top Complete Tree Service in Rhinelander, WI. With over 30 years of experience, their professional team prides themselves on providing quality tree services, including removal of infested trees or debris, land clearing, tree trimming, and shrub removal. Contact them at (715) 282-5858 to schedule an appointment, or visit them online to learn more about their services.