Twig Girdler

Did you have a bunch of branches fall off under your locust, pecan, hickory, persimmon, elm or oak?  There are few other trees these pests will destroy as well and it can be very annoying.              

Usually late summer/early fall is when you will see this happening.  August through October is a prime season for the adult twig girdlers to feed on tender bark before they lay their eggs.  The Twig Girdlers then lay their eggs in these branches so their offspring don’t have to compete with the trees seal over any wounds.             

 If you see this damage, there may not be much you can do immediately, but collect and burn all the branches on the ground to get rid of the larva, and the next year around August keep an eye out for any long-horned beetles.  If you see them around your tree again, then you know you can spray them to stop them from doing the same things all over.  We don’t want them to repeatedly attack your tree and slowly deform it by cutting off all the new growth year after year.              

This isn’t a very hard pest to get rid of, but timing is of the essence.  Most people don’t recognize the branches that have been chewed off as an issue.  A Certified Arborist can identify the problem really quickly, and then determine the right time to treat the pest.  The best thing you can do is let them know and pick up all those little branches that have fallen from the tree and dispose of them so the next generation is gone.  There is only one generation per year, so this can be a devastating blow to their population.