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Unable to identify this weird tree pest...

14 years ago

Hi,

I need some help in identifying the disease/pest that has afflicted some of my trees.

The leaves of the tree are getting tumorous kind of growth. They have round lobes protruding from the surface of the leaves. They are not just spots but actual thick round balls. The leaves look fine (relatively speaking) from below. But the upper surface of the leaves have these weird growth very similar to moles on skin. The whole leaf has about 8-10 such round moles/lobes/tumor. The diameter of each lobe is about 3 to 5 mm.

If I burst open the lobe, I can see that there is a small, really tiny insect inside it.

Any idea what it is and how can I fix it?

thank you,

Ann.

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Comments (7)

bushhog936
14 years ago
Sounds like gall wasps which are normally not a big deal. Pictures would be beneficial.
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a_paul1
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you very much for your response, Bushhog936. I have tried to take some pictures here: http://www.myalbum.com/Album=FY87TF4L Please see if you can identify this.

Unfortunately, this doesn't look like gall wasp at all because - 1. The lobes are not "stuck" on the leaf. They are developed from within the leaf surface. The gall wasp seems to build the round balls on top of the leaf (so the leaf and the lobes are technically separate), but this bug has modified the leaf structure itself, which looks exactly like a cancerous growth.
2. The lobe is green with dark brown spots, unlike the wasp lobes which are all brown.

thank you!

Here is a link that might be useful: Leaf Infestation
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I'm voting for the dead animal too, and if you've been noticing for a week or so, it's a small one, will hopefully 'dry up' quickly. Anything larger and you probably would be camped out in a hotel. Many years ago we had a 1920's house with a half basement, other half under the house was dirt/crawl space, and there were a couple of areas between the two under the house floor where something could squeeze in. Who knew. The 'scent' was wafting right out of the shelved closet in our bedroom. DH fled to his fathers farm and left me to deal with the pest company, who had told me they were prepared to find it, or they had some kind of odor killing spray they could inject into the wall if that's where it was determined to be. He found it, by pulling down ceiling insulation in the unfinished basement. Rat, along with several of those little packets of poison that people can toss out for exterminating them. Never did find which neighbor was using the rat bait... We sealed that area that could allow access, had a neighborhood meeting regarding kitchen compost, bird feeders, pet dishes, and everyone regularly cleaning up under any fruit trees - back then, there were a few neglected apple trees and 'ornamental' plum that were bearing fruit no one wanted and it was being left on the ground.
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Iris GW
14 years ago
It is some sort of insect-caused formation. Doesn't look like it will be a problem - these things come and go.
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a_paul1
Original Author
14 years ago
Hi Esh_ga, thanks for the response. That's right. It is some sort of insect. I can see a really tiny insect in the lobe.
The problem is the whole tree (almost all the leaves) is covered with it and it looks horribly ugly. Also, I don't want it to spread to other trees.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
hey paul ...

they are gall ... there are hundreds of types ... see link ...

they are irrelevant to the tree ..

but if they bug the heck out of you.. then get rid of the trees ...

if i were to do that.. i would have to take down 10 mature oaks in my yard ....

they have no effect on the tree ...

the only effect is to bug the bee-gee-bees out of you ...

i take it .. this issue was from last summer????

to coin a phrase for an old song.. its natures way ....

please avoid TRYING to use chemicals for this

good luck

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link
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a_paul1
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you very much for your valuable information, Ken! It happened right after new leaves were budding. From the link that you mentioned, it seems the only solution is prevention. So may be next year I will be careful and apply some Sevin to prevent it from occuring.
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Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
14 years ago
No need to apply Sevin for a non-problem. Save your money and the watershed.

Dan
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