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Pine tree spittlebug infestation #757328

Asked June 20, 2021, 5:36 PM EDT

We have a lot of young white and red pine trees growing up in our fields. I went out today to mark the ones we are planning on keeping so we can thin out the growth and found that most of the trees--especially those that are at least 4 feet tall and taller have many (some of the bigger trees, hundreds) of spittlebugs in them. They are in the nymph stage as they still have the "spittle" clusters. I'm hoping you can give me advice on how I can get rid of them. I have done some online research and found that they can cause great damage in such numbers. I am hoping that there is something organic that I can use, however, I need to get rid of them as we don't want to lose our trees. Thank you for any help you can give. Sincerely, Laura Noren

Gogebic County Michigan

Expert Response

Hello,

With such a high level infestation, it may be necessary to use insecticides.  This is done in late June or early July when most of the spittle masses are empty.  The following pesticides are labeled for use on spittlebugs:

Bifenthrin, carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, cyfluthrin, esfenvalerate, lambdacyhalothrin, spirotetramat.

Always follow label directions carefully.  To help manage spittlebug going forward, control of sweetfern around the trees is important.  This is an alternate host for the Saratoga spittlebug.  Information about this plant is here:

https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=869

For more information on managing this pest, you may want to consider contacting your conservation district forester.  In Gogebic county, they can be reached at<personal data hidden>.

I hope this answers your questions.  Thank you for contacting Ask Extension.

Ruth

An Ask Extension Expert Replied June 21, 2021, 3:00 PM EDT
Thank you Ruth! This makes so much sense as we've had a huge growth of ferns in our field this year also. I appreciate your help.

Have a great day,

Laura Noren

On Mon, Jun 21, 2021 at 2:00 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied June 22, 2021, 8:32 AM EDT

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