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> INVASIVE THREATS to MAINE'S FORESTS and TREES
INVASIVE THREATS to MAINE'S FORESTS and TREESReport Suspected Findings in Maine to:
Our native trees and forests are being threatened by invasive insects and diseases that live in dead and dying wood. In many cases, these pests are being accidentally spread to new locations by homeowners and recreationists moving firewood from one location to another.
Origin: Asia **Many new infestations center around campgrounds, implicating camp firewood in this insect’s spread** Hosts: Ash Nearest Known Occurrences: Emerald ash borer is now known to be within a half of a day's drive of Maine's border. Toronto, ON Canada; Montreal Area (Montérégie Region), QC, Canada; Pittsburgh area in Pennsylvania and the Clinton/Brandywine area of Prince George's County in Maryland. Description: Metallic green beetle with wings and body tapered towards the rear. Signs and Symptoms: Symptoms and signs include D-shaped adult exit holes, bark splitting, serpentine frass-filled (sawdust-like waste) feeding galleries, wood pecker feeding, crown dieback, and epicormic shoots (whips growing off the trunk). Many of these symptoms and signs are similar to other insects and diseases of ash. Damage: Larval feeding under the bark girdles and kills ash trees. Since its discovery in the United States in 2002 emerald ash borer has killed millions of ash trees. Biosurveillance: Biosurveillance uses one living organism to monitor for another. A native non-stinging wasp, Cerceris fumipennis, is a efficient surveillance tool for detecting emerald ash borer.
Origin: Europe, Asia, northern Africa Hosts: Pines (usually), Fir and Spruce (occasionally), Larch (rarely) Nearest Known Occurrences: Lamoille County, Vermont, also found in eastern New York and northern Pennsylvania. Description: Dark metallic blue wasp-like, robust insect without a defined waist, with a spear-shaped plate at the tail end. Reddish yellow legs with black feet. Damage: Wilted foliage eventually turning from dark green, to light green, to yellow and then red. Resin beads and flows sometimes found at egg laying sites (not found with our native pine borers). Amylostereum areolatum, the symbiotic fungus of Sirex noctilio, has been detected from southern Ontario, Canada. Origin: Europe Hosts: Spruce (usually), Fir, Pine, Larch (secondary), Hardwoods (rare) Nearest Known Occurrences: Halifax area in Nova Scotia, Canada Description: Flattened brown beetle, very similar to native long-horned beetles. Reddish-brown antennae ½ length of body. Signs and Symptoms: Oval to round holes in bark, resin streams down the stem. Coarse sawdust at the base of the tree, on the stem and/or packed into the holes. Damage: This beetle generally attacks unhealthy trees in its native environment. In Nova Scotia it has been found to attack and kill healthy trees.Origin: Asia Hosts: Hardwood trees, especially maples. Nearest Known Occurrences: New York City area in New York and adjacent areas in New Jersey. Description: Glossy black (think patent leather), very smooth beetle with white spots on the wings. Antennae are at least the length of the body and banded with black and white. Signs and Symptoms: Oval to round wounds on the bark where the females have chewed out a site to deposit their eggs. Round emergence holes in the trunks and branches of trees. Piles of coarse sawdust at the base of trees. Damage: Tunneling by larvae girdles tree stems and branches. This leads to dieback of the tree crown and eventual death of the tree
Origin: Japan Hosts: Hemlocks Nearest Known Occurrences: ** Hemlock woolly adelgid is established in southern York County, Maine** Description: A small aphid-like insect covered with white, waxy wool-like material. This wool-like covering makes the insect resemble miniature cotton balls. It is most visible from late-October through July. Wool masses are located on the undersides of the twigs at the bases of the needles (not on the needle, but on the twig). Signs and Symptoms: The white waxy cotton ball-like covering of this adelgid is the most obvious sign of this insect. Damage: Feeding by the adelgid leads to needle loss, crown thinning and dieback and eventual mortality of trees.
Origin: Unknown Hosts: Numerous (see list on APHIS site) Nearest Known Occurrences: Canker damage occurs in California and Oregon. The disease causing organism, Phytophthora ramorum, was found on one potted lilac plant in Maine, but it is not believed to be established in Maine. Surveys of four forested watersheds in central and southern Maine were conducted during 2007, with no P. ramorum found at any location. Description: The causal agent of sudden oak death is a fungus-like micro-organism called Phytophthora ramorum. Laboratory tests are necessary to confirm this species as the cause of disease. Signs and Symptoms: P. ramorum causes two types of symptoms. In "bark canker" hosts, such as oaks, large cankers can be found on the trunk or main stem. Crown browning will also occur. In "foliar hosts", leaf blight (gray to brown lesions) and twig dieback may be found. Damage: This disease has caused mortality of oaks and tanoaks in parts of the western United States (bark canker hosts). Foliar hosts may serve as a reservoir for disease inoculum. Revised July 8, 2008 |
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Hemlock Woolly Adelgid