Today's Date:
Wednesday, January 7

The first wave of bugs hits Ohio…are you prepared?

April 14, 2008 - TIME SENSITIVE INFORMATION - Insects are starting to arrive in Ohio. Our dormant oil and foliar protection plans at Forevergreen will protect your investment at your home or business. Call now to stop these unwanted pests.

"EASTERN TENT CATS ARRIVE; FOREST TENT CATS SOON TO FOLLOW.  Overwintered eggs of EASTERN TENT CATERPILLAR began hatching in southwest Ohio this past weekend.  The overwintered eggs of the FOREST TENT CATERPILLAR should be hatching soon.  Although the two caterpillars are related, they have distinctly different appearances, hosts, and behavior."

Forest tent caterpillars (FTC) will feed on a wide variety of deciduous trees including ash, sweetgum, oak, birch, cherry, aspen, elm, basswood, and sugar maple.  Despite its common name, FTC constructs only rudimentary mat‑like silk nests on leaves or bark.  The caterpillars congregate in colonies during early instar stages; however, later instars disperse from the colonies and become solitary feeders.

Both of these general defoliating caterpillars are capable of causing serious stress to their host trees.  Leaves lost to Eastern Tent Caterpillar and Forest Tent Caterpillar feeding this spring must be replaced using energy stored from last season

TIME TO MONITOR FOR SPRUCE SPIDER MITES.   landscapers should start monitoring for spruce spider mites.  The mite spends the summer and winter months in the egg stage.  As temperatures cool in the fall, or warm in the spring, the eggs hatch making this a "cool-season" mite.  Indicators that overwintered eggs are about to hatch include a GDD of 162, and the full bloom of 'Bradford' callery pears.  Both of these predictors should be met this week with the predicted warm temperatures in that part of the state.

Hosts include spruce, arborvitae, juniper, hemlock, pine, Douglas-fir, true firs, and sometimes other conifers.  The mites feed by rupturing individual cells of the host's foliage, producing characteristic tiny yellow spots, or "stippling."  As the stippling coalesces, foliage becomes bleached and eventually bronze-colored.  Inner foliage is generally affected first.

Insecticide applications will stop these and other unwanted foliar eaters from ruining your landscapes day.  

Forevergreen Lawncare helps residential and commercial locations in Northeast Ohio deal with Eastern Tent Caterpillars, Forest Tent Caterpillars and Spruce Spider Mites - Contact us for an estimate today!