Beech Bark Disease Workshop November 17, 2011
• the native twicestabbed ladybeetle feeds on the scale insect but not enough to act as a biocontrol
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This tree shows cracking, which may be due to a variety of factors, including stress from scale insect feeding. There is a trace amount of scale present (below)
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There may be staining on the bark for a variety of reasons – many different fungi and other stresses can affect the cambium and cause this colouration. This particular tree has the fungus at its root flare (patches of red dots)
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Fungus on smooth bark. The right side of the tree has cracking which might be due to stress from scale feeding
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This tree is heavily infected with the fungus There are also scattered olderlooking cankers that have split open which might be from an earlier wave of the disease
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It’s important to look at the whole tree, as a tree may not have obvious signs of scale or canker at eye level
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Fungal fruiting bodies, with scale evident around the edge of the fungal infection area The scale tend to feed in areas where there is no fungus so they can access the living tissue
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This tree is currently infested with the fungus, which is fruiting (long stripe of red on left side of tree). It also has signs of older cankers (lumps on right side of tree)
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Native Sirex wasps (above flagging tape) will target dying trees to lay eggs. They inject a fungus for the larva to feed on. This tree appears to have been attacked by multiple waves of the disease. Older cankers have penetrated into the cambium Scale insect is currently present, as are fruiting bodies of the fungus
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This tree is heavily infected. It has lots of older cankers, as well as this year’s fungal fruiting bodies
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This tree appears to be uninfected, even though many trees around it are heavily infected. The pimples could be due to stress from scale feeding or other stressors
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This tree has old beech bark disease cankers that are very deep (left side) It also has a lot of scale on it (right side), feeding on the remaining living tissue.
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This tree is very gnarly, but it’s not due to beech bark disease. Beech has up to 80 fungal pathogens that can affect it. It does currently have the scale insects feeding on it.
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More badly infected trees likely hit by multiple waves of the disease.
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This heavily infected tree still has a healthy crown.
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This small tree has a heavy scale infestation. When smaller trees have a lot of scale, it indicates that the infestation in the area must be heavy, since they are a smaller target for the insects to hit. This is not a laughing matter. ☺