Keepitlow, I'm not sure they're increasing on a global scale, it's just that societies are much more mobile now, and bring pests along with them, so that there is a larger diversity of pests here. A couple more imported pests that come to mind are Japanese beetles introduced in the early 1900s, and the very recently introduced spotted wing drosophila fly. Once introduced, it has generally taken a long time for some of these pests to become omnipresent. Codling moth, even though introduced with the first settlers, didn't find it's way to Kansas until 1850. Japanese beetles, even though introduced 90 years ago, are still not found in all KS counties today. However, in the future with our society even more mobile, it may take less time for these newly introduced pests to fully disseminate. OFM has become more of a problem due to mutation. Originally it was exclusively a stone fruit pest. In recent years it has become a pest in commercial apple orchards as well. I've also read it can be a problem in some home orchards where there are lots of stone fruit and apples planted together. To the naked eye, the larva are indistinguishable from CM. Lastly, introduced pests are not limited to fruit. Bedbugs have been practically unheard of here for half a century. Remember the old adage, "sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite"? That came from a time when people slept on hanging rope beds. Bedbugs could be somewhat thwarted by tightening up the ropes to prevent the bed from touching the floor. In recent times some hotels (even nice ones) have had problems with bedbugs being reintroduced from overseas travelers. That'd be a case where I'm going to kill some nature, and feel really good about it.

hey! since you just moved in.. i am going to talk about the prior owner.. and you should take none of it personally ... looking at the first pic.. i see nearly no landscape ... and i am going to bet.. they bought a rather large transplant.. from the bigboxstore.. a few years back.. planted it [i too wonder if it is telephone poled .. no root flare at the ground] ..... i am going to guess ... it was pot bound.. and they did little than dig a hole and stick it in .. and water it at planting .. i am further going to guess ... that they did little if no PROPER followup in regard to PROPER WATERING .... for the 2 or 3 years a large transplant would require ... plus throw in drought if any over that period ... all that resulting in lack of proper moisture.. thru the ensuing few years ... resulting in sunscald.. on the south facing side of the tree ... and if all the above were true.. improper pruning leading to.. or complicating more bark damage ... there!! .. that is just about everything i can think of.. as to what might have caused the problem ... BTW.. ants DO not harm an otherwise healthy tree ... at worst they mess with other bugs.. 'milking' aphids of honeydew' e.g. ... and for sure.. a couple means nothing.. they are just surveying their domain ... what can you do??? .. not much.. trees heal themselves.. if you can restore vigor thru proper watering.. "feeding" it.. will not make a difference.. it is not a child ... besides the fact that the rather weed free lawn tells me.. it is probably fertilized ... so the tree needs nothing else ... if vigor were to return.. it can heal itself thru compartmentalization .... [thats my long word for the day ... lol ..] but if the tree is not proper for your area.. as noted above.. whats the point ... be done with it ... cut it to the ground.. do your research for something new.. and plant it a few feet off to the side ... unless you really want to find out what is going on underground.. simply for the sake of knowledge ... then dig it up.. so you can replant in the same hole ... good luck with your new house ... presumably.. you redid the interior to your taste.. so lets redo this tree.. to your taste.. rather than spending the next decade.. 'dealing' with it.. ken

Well OK thanks for the thrashing I needed a good old kick in the ass today. So why didn't anyone bother to say we need a picture, this is a common request but no, not here, the practice here is to just make no response because the post came from an idiot. A foliar spraying with a good fungicide is normal under these conditions and as general preventive measure. I have suggested at times that someone local should be consulted but I have decided that this approach could insult someone, with a simple pass the buck attitude and question.It like telling a Christian I lost my job because I fell and broke my leg and the Christian says, oh my thats terrible I will put you on the prayer list as soon as I can get to a phone. That's it no macaroni no offers to cut the grass. Now if this is not enough description of a fungal attack I don't know what is (browning of the major limbs, peeling of the bark with clumps of yellow powdery material on the limbs) now I hope you are happy that you have passed the buck again, who is it that your are really mad at. I will continue to respond to questions and you guys can continue to shot me down but I will not leave people hanging like you guys do, as a matter of course.Then soon you will be in the minority and we will have a kinder gentler Acer Forum, yes I a new Japanese Maple Forum, because no one know anything about the common maples or they don't want to post a reply, maybe it is because it is too common.

If the growths look otherwise like those of the rest of the tree, with the same coral red stem color do not worry about it. It is normal. Japanese maples have a main flush of growth in spring, and then after an interval other shoots tend to appear in summer.