Tag: Insects
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What’s That Sticky Stuff Coming from My Trees?
Honeydew is a sticky, sugary liquid that is insect waste. Insects called aphids (and some scale species) suck on plant sap and secrete a liquid we all know as honeydew. For the most part, an infestation of these messy insects won’t seriously harm your tree. However, they can cause distortions of leaves and of fruits…
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What Has Happened to My Hackberry Trees?
The unusual weather this year has set up conditions for a very obscure moth to come out of obscurity and defoliate many of the hackberry trees in southern Denton County. The moth larvae is a small green caterpillar about 1/2 inch long at maturity. The caterpillar is called a “skeletonizer” because it eats the flesh…
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Little Round Bugs Invading My Patio and House!
This is not necessarily tree related, but it is something I haven’t seen before at our yard and house in Highland Village, Texas. Over the past few days, thousands of small round insects are covering the back patio and coming into the house. Upon some investigation, these are “White-Lined Burrowing Bugs” and are completely harmless…
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Brown Bumps On My Oak Twigs?
What are those little brown humps that cover my oak twigs? These are lecanium scale insects. The lecanium scale can be debilitating to the host plant, rarely killing it. The insect draws sap from the tree, thus reducing the tree’s resources. A heavy infestation can stress a tree greatly and may cause thinning of the…
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What’s that “White Fungus” on My Post Oaks?
As we get into August this year, the post oaks in Denton County are showing a lot of white on their leaves. This is not a fungus or serious disease but is “wool” that is produced by a small sucking insect called an Aphid. The aphid produces the “cotton” or “wool” as protective covering and…