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New England Gardening

Beetles Found Under Bark of An Oak Tree

10 years ago

Hi,
Last winter, tree service people hired by NStar inspected two oak trees in my front yard. The lady told me that I need to spray pesticide on one oak tree. Before I got around to take care of this issue, the snow started.
Two weeks ago after the snow melted, I sprayed some insect killer, perhaps some kill-all kind from Otho. As soon as I sprayed the pesticide, I was shocked to see small beetles crawling out. After a minute, these beetles fell to the ground and died.
I used garden hose to spray all the pesticides I could find at Home Depot on the trees in my yard. But I can only spray to about 12 feet high, about 1/3 height of the trees.
My questions are:
1. If I kept spraying commonly used pesticides once every season, can I control the beetle problem?
2. I read that bark beetle infest from the top and spread downward, and one of the signs is falling tree branches. Is that true? Do I need to buy a pump and spray the whole tree?
3. I read that bark beetle rarely infest healthy trees. Is it still possible for me to rescue the oak trees? Or should I cut the infested trees to protect other trees and to start new trees early?

Gardening is a lot of fun and a lot of hard work. Hopefully in the future I can post more beautiful pictures about the flowers and vegetables in my garden.

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Comments (7)

NHBabs z4b-5a NH
10 years ago
I would consider consulting an arborist to find out what is on your oaks and whether/how to treat it. Willynilly spraying of pesticides can be a problem for other beneficial insects and other invertebrates ranging from ladybugs to bees to worms. Pesticides can also interfere with some of your soil's flora and fauna that helps keep it healthy. An arborist may have a treatment that can be injected to keep your trees healthy that will have a narrower impact that sprays which spread farther.
pixie_lou
10 years ago
Ditto what babs said. You need to first identify the bug you are seeing, determine if it is doing damage to your trees, then choose an appropriate course of treatment that will specifically target the pest in question.
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Thanks everyone! I may have made it sound as if we are in a huge forested area -- like actual wooded land. We are actually on a half-acre lot -- long and skinny. THe back 1/4 of it is wooded and really nice. We are in a very old neighborhood and many of our old trees are in jeopardy -- just from age and from the aforementioned drought years. My neighbor has 3 humongous oaks that are nearly dead from ambrosia beetles. His are next to the street, power lines, etc. He is just going to let them fall. I hate that -- but he doesn't have the money to cut them down. Our tree won't hurt any buildings if it goes, but it would probably hurt some other trees that have a really nice start -- even worse -- our kids like to play back there. I spoke to someone at our extension office today -- they said to get rid of the wood! I guess I'd better tell our tree guy to NOT give anyone the mulch from the chipped limbs. Although.... I wonder how far up these beetles have gone? I know they are up past my head... but maybe not WAY up there. Maybe that wood would be OK. THanks to all for all the input. It is great to be informed!
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I've seen the bark splits much more frequently that the tree 'exploding' - though I have seen that as well. Have a picture, somewhere, of a water oak back on the farm that I saw take a direct strike - bark split from far up in the canopy, down to the ground, that survived, and healed up the split in the bark. Lived for 10-12 more years until it was felled as housing developments went up. As a veterinarian, I've also seen numerous dead cows piled up all around a tree that took a direct lighting strike, dropped in their tracks, with dirt blown up from around the surface roots. Have also seen cows that took a direct hit with no tree involved, and they'll also have linear singe marks in their haircoat, where you can trace the path of the lightning strike as it coursed through/over their body.
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I don't have any photos, I've only been once since they started having the problem, but they're the same as the ones that were under the bark on a branch that fell from the tree a few months ago. They cut a considerable amount of wood off the tree and dropped it in my friend's yard before hauling it away a day later. I'm assuming that they emerged at that time. As I said the tree was absolutely infested with them and has been for some time.
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diggingthedirt
10 years ago
Your town's department of natural resources, or your county extension service, can identify the bugs for you - just slip one into a plastic bag and see who's available to take a look.

I once came within inches of spraying a line of spruce when I found a large number of tiny beetles that I couldn't immediately identify - the spruces were obviously suffering and I didn't know what was doing the damage. One more look on-line, and I discovered that the beetles were immature lady bugs; they were there to save the spruce from spruce spider mite. I've always been careful about using chemicals in my yard, but since that day, pesticides are really my last resort. Your beetles are obviously not lady bugs, but they're not necessarily the culprit.
diggingthedirt
10 years ago
The site I'm linking to has lots of photos, and you may be able to get an ID, if you have pics of the top side of these guys.

Here is a link that might be useful: North American Insect ID site
easycity
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks "diggingthedirt" to recommend an insect ID site. But I cannot find a category that fit the beetle that I found.
I attached another photo here.
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
10 years ago
OK, I don't think that your bug is the problem. It looks to me like the non-lighting, daytime "lightning bug" Ellychnia corrusca. The adults overwinter by crawling between the cracks in tree bark.

Here are a couple of highlights from what I read about them, both from the blog linked below:

"The larvae of Ellychnia corrusca, says the E.H. Strickland Entomology Museum, live in rotting wood and are predators, likely eating grubs and slugs that are also found in or on rotting wood.

Diet: Adults live on plant liquids such as maple sap, maple flower nectar, and possibly fluids from flowers during the fall before they find a winter hiding place, according to the E.H. Strickland Museum."

Here is a link that might be useful: What Lives in my Yard?
easycity
Original Author
10 years ago
It is a great relief to know that the beetles under the bark of my oak tree are not a big concern.
Thanks everyone for all the input.

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