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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Worm in apple rootstock

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  • From: Hélène Dessureault <interverbis@videotron.ca>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Worm in apple rootstock
  • Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 09:42:53 -0400

Hi Bruce,
Those worms are borers. There was extensive mail on this subject, including
photos of the adult and the larva stages, on this list two summers ago.
Basically, the adult lays eggs in the bark at the base of the tree. The
larva feeds on the soft tissues of the tree underneath the bark where it
dugs a tunnel. The entrance hole is obvious because of the rusty colored
mash of chewed bark.
Eventually, the larva makes it way to the roots where it spends the winter.
Sometimes in the Spring, dead little trees have no roots left.
The consensus to deal with those obnoxious pest organically seems to take a
semi rigid wire and push it into the gallery as far as possible. Often, you
embroach the larva on the first attempt.
If there is still new rusty sawdust the next day, you know that the larva is
still well and still at work, so you can repeat the operation.
I had noticed the phenomenon over a few years but was clueless as to its
cause. The larva does quite a lot of damage as the galleries are sometimes
dugged laterally and wreck the sap system of the tree.
When I finally woke up to the problem and learned the wire method (on this
list!), I found as much as three inhabitants on one single tree.... I can
report that since there are only one or to a year on all my trees, so I had
an infestation that had been building for some years. The adult flies and
goes from tree to tree, but seems to prefer weaker trees. I killed one last
week with a wire on one attempt.
Sometimes the larva are too far from the entrance so the wire does not reach
far enough.
After two unsuccesful attempts, I use a small seringe full of organic
pesticide and inject it into the hole, and that usually marks the end of the
problem.
Good luck!
Hélène, zone 3-4a
north of Ottawa
----- Original Message -----
From: "bruce" <rural@threeriverwb.net>
To: "Dennis Norton" <dmnorton@royaloakfarmorchard.com>; "North American
Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2006 5:16 PM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Worm in apple rootstock


> Dennis, thanks. This wasn't in the roots -- was in the stem. I wonder if
> it's the same worm?
>
> Dennis Norton wrote:
> > Bruce,
> >
> > Sounds like a borer larvae. Check out
> > http://www.ento.vt.edu/Fruitfiles/Prionus.html which is the prionus
borer
> > that likes to attack apple tree roots. Hope this helps!
> >
> > Dennis Norton
> > Royal Oak Farm Orchard
> > http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com
> > http://www.theorchardkeeper.blogspot.com
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "bruce" <rural@threeriverwb.net>
> > To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> > Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2006 9:34 AM
> > Subject: [NAFEX] Worm in apple rootstock
> >
> >
> >
> >> Yesterday I was making some grafts. On one rootstock, I made a vertical
> >> cut down the stem for a chip bud graft. When the cut piece fell away,
> >> instead of a healthy looking interior, the cut was covered with what
> >> looked like a layer of sawdust. At the base of the cut, there was a
small
> >> hole and I was able to extract a small worm from the hole. It looked
> >> somewhat like a white grub, but it was diamond shaped and flat instead
of
> >> round, about 1/4" long. I'm assuming the rootstock will eventually die
> >> from this damage, but I'll just leave it to see what happens. I should
add
> >> that the rootstock has been in the ground for over a year and is not
fresh
> >> from the nursery. Any ideas of what this worm might be?
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >>
> >> bruce
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
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