Tree Pests

Publication date: May 1, 2018

IntroductionEmerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) is an exotic, invasive, wood-boring insect that infests and kills native North American ash trees, both in forests and landscape plantings. Just like the Dutch elm disease that killed our native ...

In addition to all of the nonnative, invasive tree pests challenging the health of Missouri’s trees, there are several native insects and diseases that can cause serious harm. Although we cannot eradicate these pests from our natural ecosystems, it ...

Gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) is a destructive, exotic forest pest that was accidentally introduced into the United States in 1869 by a man hoping to mate them with silkworms to create a hardier, more productive silk-bearer. When some of his gypsy ...

The invasive Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) hitchhiked to the United States nestled deep within hardwoods cut into crates and pallets and used to import goods from Asian countries. Adult beetles eat leaves and twigs, while young larvae tunnel beneath ...

Although not yet detected here, thousand cankers disease (TCD) is a potentially fatal disease of black walnut, caused by the walnut twig beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis) and an associated fungus (Geosmithia morbida). TCD could easily spread to ...