Trees and shrubs in Texas are at risk of different plant insects that cause extensive damage to their health and appearance. When it comes to safeguarding your plants, knowing and understanding what kind of pests you need to watch out for is the first step! Common plant insects in the area that can infest your trees and shrubs are bagworms, webworms, spider mites, crepe myrtle bark scale, and emerald ash borers. These pests either feed on the leaves, the cell contents from the leaves, or even on the bark of your trees and shrubs! Proper identification is crucial to providing your plants with the correct treatment to get any infestation taken care of.
Bagworms are serious defoliators of trees and shrubs.
Bagworms are plant pests that create cocoon-like bags that they attach to the leaves and branches of the trees and shrubs they are feeding on. You probably won't see the pest itself and only these bags that can seriously drag down the visual appeal of your yard. These pests are the larval form of moths and have small bodies that are as light as a feather!
These tree and shrub pests start their life cycle as eggs that hatch in late spring or early summer. They will cause damage to your plants by feeding on buds and foliage. When their population is big enough, they cause defoliation on your trees and shrubs. As they continue to feed on your plants, their bodies and bags become bigger. In later summer, adult males will emerge from the bags to mate with the females that remain in their bags. These female bagworms will lay between 200 to 1,000 eggs that will hatch again in the spring and restart the lifecycle.
Spider Mites Feed on the Cell Contents From Your Plants' Leaves
One of the toughest plant insects to have on your trees and shrubs in Texas is spider mites. These pests are extremely tiny and hard to see with the naked eye. Because of this, they can easily get under the radar and cause extensive damage without being detected! The main diet of spider mites is the foliage of your trees and shrubs. They suck out the cell contents from the leaves, causing stippling where white dots appear on the foliage. Because of this, the leaves of your trees and shrubs can turn yellow or brown and drop.
Webworms create unattractive webs around the leaves of your trees and shrubs.
If you see webs on your trees and shrubs with brown or withered leaves, you might be dealing with a webworm infestation. These plant insects are commonly found in Texas and affect deciduous trees and shrubs. They can be characterized by the 1-inch light yellow to green bodies with white hairs and dark-colored heads. The damage they cause comes from their feeding. Webworms will eat the leaves of your trees and shrubs, spinning webs around the ones that they feed on. These webs serve as protective nests for the webworms against predators as they feed. These nests will continue to become larger as the webworms continue to feed, which causes stress to your plants and defoliation.
Crepe Myrtle Bark Scale Create Honeydew As They Feed on Your Trees
Crepe myrtle bark scale is a type of scale insect with a waxy coating on its body. They target crepe myrtle plants, where they are likely found on the trees' stems, branches, and trunks. A tell-tale sign of a crepe myrtle bark scale infestation is the appearance of white or gray-like scales on the stems of your trees and shrubs in Texas. These pests feed on the loose bark of crepe myrtle trees. As they continue to feed, these pests will produce honeydew that will stick to your plants' stems and branches and develop black sooty mold.
Emerald ash borers burrow underneath the tree bark where they feed.
One of the most damaging and invasive pests that could infest your trees and shrubs in Texas is emerald ash borers. These are metallic green beetles that are most active in the summer between June and July. However, it's not the beetles you should worry about but their larvae! The larvae of emerald ash borers cause significant damage to your trees and shrubs by burrowing themselves beneath the tree bark where they start to feed. As they feed, the movement of water and transport of nutrients throughout the rest of the tree gets disrupted, causing canopy thinning.
Call us today to sign up for our tree and shrub insect control treatments!
Your trees and shrubs are vulnerable to pest infestations all year long, which is why you need to have a treatment plan in place. This is where we come in. Our team at CitiTurf offers tree and shrub insect control treatments that target bagworms, spider mites, webworms, crepe myrtle bark scale, and emerald ash borers. We provide these services to residential properties in Plano, Allen, Frisco, McKinney, and surrounding neighborhoods in Texas. Call us today at 972-516-0001 to sign up for these treatments and be confident about the health of your trees and shrubs!
