Dear All,

    I wish to make a few general comments about insects and trees.

    There seems to be a general perception that insects which attack trees move about largely when logs or firewood is moved. While this no doubt can happen insects often move without human help. Compared to insects we are the new kid on the block; thus they got around without our help.

    If you fell a healthy White Pine on a calm, warm sunny day it will soon attract an assortment of insects laying eggs in or on the bark free (smooth thin "bark"; just undifferentiated epidermis) as opposed to the thicker multi layered bark  followed by Cleridae looking for a meal of insects, eggs or to lay eggs where the young will likely find larvae or eggs to eat.   

    (Drawing on memory so details may be faulty.) Cut a small Ash (smooth bark) and leave it where it was but leaning against another small Ash and within one fine day (sometimes hours) the cut Ash will have any small round holes and the intact tree will be without holes.

    Thus tree health conditions interaction with insects.

Dave Kentville

From Doug's observations on the North Mountain, it sounds like the Beech Leaf-mining Weevil (Orchestes fagi) a.k.a. "Evil Weevil", as coined by folks in Eskasoni, is already out and ready to pounce on new beech leaves as soon as they unfold.  How sad. 

The weevil is ramping up to attack the American beech trees again this spring; what few remain and thrive after the much earlier introduction of beech bark disease, an invasion from Europe nearly a century ago. 

If it is gathering on the North Mountain, it is also out in the warmer parts of the Annapolis Valley.  I have yet to see this part of the life cycle, so will head out to search for it this weekend.  I am curious about the reported clicking sounds they make.  Do you hear them, Doug? The beech trees are not ready to leaf out yet, so maybe the weevil will find itself out of sync and starve.  That would be nice.

If I stand out there with a large vacuum cleaner when they are swarming...?  I guess that sounds desperate and futile...  So many of these weevils are likely being moved about on firewood as little stowaways.  I hope our provincial parks will switch to providing firewood to perhaps keep out infested firewood imports with campers and keep out the weevil for as long as they can.  Valley View Park will most certainly be devastated, and likely soon.  I hope they have a plan.

Donna

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Subject:	[Naturens] Re: CBC: Emerald Ash Borer in Bedford
Date:	Fri, 30 Apr 2021 21:21:18 -0300
From:	Doug Linzey <doug@fundymud.com>
To:	naturens@chebucto.ns.ca

On Wednesday, a fine sunny, warm day, our south-facing windows were covered with little black randomly moving spots, which proved to be Orchestes fagi, Beech leaf-mining weevils. They're waiting impatiently for the beech leaves to emerge and turn much of our property into what you describe, Peter -- dead beech trees. They began the insult last year, and this year I expect a pretty thin canopy by the end of June. That, plus a change in the way water accumulates and sticks around more than it used to, causing some tree dieoff, not to mention much higher and regular winds (and a neighbour who would rather have a well-groomed yard than those pesky natural trees) causing blowdown, all adds up to a seriously challenged bit of forest here on the N. Mountain. Can't wait for the Emerald Ash Borer!

Doug

Arlington, Kings Co.

On Fri, Apr 30, 2021 at 3:28 PM Peter Payzant <peter@payzant.net> wrote:

CBC had a disheartening story yesterday about the presence of the Emerald Ash Borer in Bedford. It seems that it's now just a matter of time before ash trees in the province are history.

The forest behind our home opened up tremendously with the deaths of all the Beech trees; Ash trees are one of the more common remaining deciduous species.

You can read the story here.

--- Peter Payzant
Waverley

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