Help--I'm infested

14 years ago

Hey All- I noticed about a thousand(I'm not kidding,it was like something out of fear factor) inch long,slim black,with a light green stripe worms/caterpillars on my mugo pines. By the next day the whole bush was stripped! And they're on to the next one. What are they? Obviously they are foe to the mugo,but are they bad guys in general? and what do they become? What do they destroy in their next phase? Also have clusters of red little bugs on my perennial sunflower. I just noticed them the other day--look like aphids in behavior--clustered together on underside of leaves and on stalk. And now they are on every stalk and most leaves. I've only known aphids to be black. What do I have and what to do?

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Comments (4)

WendyB 5A/MA
14 years ago
seems that mugo's are prone to attacks of things. I had something simarly horrible last year. Yours sound different, but just as bad. maybe another kind of sawfly.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/shrubs/msg0908091524456.html

aphids come in all colors unfortunately.
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
14 years ago
According to the latest UMass Landscape Message:

"European pine sawfly caterpillars are active. Inspect host foliage (primarily mugo pine) for the yellow, blocky patches, which are the eggs embedded within the needles or look for the tiny dark-colored larvae clustered at the needle tips. In most regions of the state, the caterpillars are now active. This pest feeds voraciously and grows rapidly. Needles will be consumed down to the stems. Needles with eggs or stems with larvae can be pruned away and destroyed when this pest occurs in limited numbers. Otherwise, treat the larvae with a product that contains spinosad or use one of the registered pyrethroid insecticides. Very small larvae can be treated with insecticidal soap effectively."

Claire
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Marie Tulin
14 years ago
go to the latest UMass Newsletter, posted always by Claire, and you'll see the perfect description of your critters. It also talks about controls. Better hurry, because as you've seen, they can strip it in short notice.

HOnestly, that"s the only reason I don't have mugo pines anymore. They were infested every season and look just terrible. Some deciduous shrubs are still passable during and after an insect attact, but conifers/evergreens no way.
crnaskater
14 years ago
I learned my lesson in the late 80's! I vowed never again to plant mugo pines. In the 90's I lost a beautiful blue Mongomery spruce to a similar insect....for the life of me I can't remember the name, but they form oval tan colored patches on the inside stem during the winter, then erupt in the late spring.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Help--I'm infested

Comments (4)

WendyB 5A/MA

claireplymouth z6b coastal MA

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crnaskater

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