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.

I just discovered I've got 2 infested pine trees (huge ones), out of 10 total, in my backyard. After doing lots of googling and talking to the county extension agent, I, also, sprayed all my trees (with a specdtricide product containing permethrin)...mainly as a preventative measure for the uninfestated (I hope) trees. From all information I gathered, once infected, you can kiss them goodbye. I'm told you'll know they're dying when the pine needles in the tops of the trees start turning brown. The two I'll have to take down have trunks about 3 feet across. Large dollars. If all were to croak, I'd be up the creek financially. Chuckiebtoo

Hi Nightowl, if you can give the ulcers a little clean-up and then dry them, on a good sunny day,paint the trunk and wounds with wound paint/ (plastic based paint) to seal up the exposed parts of the trunk as it will be attacked with fungal spores and you may loose the tree. clear away any mulch from the trunk as this will also attract ants to the tree as well, they carry the fugal spores around with them and spread to many other plants as well.A good fertilise and you may get back you Navels. Good luck. Peter.

In Los Angeles it is not uncommon to paint the tree trunks with a white, water based latex paint thinned to 50% with water. Besides preventing sunburn this supposedly prevents places for the borers laying their eggs. It has to be kept up and maintained annually as the trunk expands before the borers arrive and lay their eggs. The second treatment is dormant oil sprayed on in winter which suffocates any eggs present in the bark. Any borers already in the trunk will remain protected from attack. Any holes you find about 1/4" diameter are emergent borers leaving an empty "nest." If the borers have successfully eaten the entire circumference of the cambium layer around the tree rejoining their tunneling (full circle) the tree will die within a year or two. There are some attempts at spraying for adults. Such measures likely kill any predators (parasitic wasps mainly) as well and other beneficials. They are considered either ineffective or lore trouble than they are worth.