Knowledgebase

What are these devouring my Alder trees? #760107

Asked July 05, 2021, 5:32 PM EDT

An alder tree in my yard (and my neighbor’s yard) recently began dropping skeletonized leaves. It’s now covered with the caterpillars/larvae in the attached photos—they’re climbing up and down the trunk. What are these and how do I eliminate them in the long run? I worry the trees won’t survive the level of destruction the little critters are causing -and- they’re creeping me out ;-)

Deschutes County Oregon

Expert Response

Hello, this is the larvae of one of the many leaf beetles we have in our area. Here is a link to information about leaf beetles in general. https://pnwhandbooks.org/insect/hort/landscape/common/landscape-leaf-beetle

If you go choose to use chemicals to help control this pest go to the chemical table in the link and select from the list of chemicals suggested. 

Toni S Replied July 08, 2021, 2:54 PM EDT

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