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Residents urged to spray elms to control elm leaf beetle Latrobe City Council commenced its control bark-banding program on Friday 9 January, to protect the City’s elm trees against the elm leaf beetle. By Latrobe City Council - 9th January 2004 - Back to News Latrobe City Council commenced its control bark-banding program on Friday 9 January, to protect the City’s elm trees against the elm leaf beetle, and is urging Latrobe Citizens to bark-band elms on their own private properties to reduce infestations of elm leaf beetles.
Latrobe City Mayor, Councillor Graeme Middlemiss, said it was important that there was a co-operative community approach to tackling infestations of elm leaf beetles on public and private land throughout the municipality at this time of year.
"Trees that are treated will exhibit a significant reduction in damage the following season. However, if nearby trees remain untreated, those trees that are bark-banded will soon become rapidly reinfested by elm leaf beetles," Cr Middlemiss said.
Latrobe City’s Arborist, Chris Dash, said most of the elms planted in Australian streets, parks and gardens were European species including the English elm Ulmus procera, Dutch elm U. x hollandica, golden elm U. glabra ‘Lutescens’, variegated elm U. minor ‘Variegata’, and the weeping elm U. glabra ‘Camperdownii’. "Unfortunately all of these elms are susceptible to elm leaf beetle attack. Asian species however such as the Chinese elm U. parvifolia and the closely related Zelkova serrata are relatively resistant to elm leaf beetle," Mr Dash said.
"In late summer, damaged foliage in these trees becomes obvious as adult beetles and larvae feed voraciously on leaves. Look for small holes in the leaves called ‘shot-holes’, caused by the adult elm leaf beetle," Mr Dash said.
"The beetle itself is about 6mm long, oval shaped, with characteristic black and yellow (sometimes olive) stripes. Another type of damage observed at this time of year is known as ‘skeletonisation’. This is caused by the larvae which strip the foliage, leaving only the skeleton of the leaf behind. Skeletonised leaves will turn brown and drop prematurely. A heavy infestation can cause a mature elm to be defoliated by mid-summer," Mr Dash explained.
Mr Dash said now was a crucial time for taking preventative action against the Elm Leaf Beetle, a time when the larvae of the beetle travel down the trunk to pupate in the soil to complete their life cycle.
"This is when very inexpensive control measures can be applied, breaking the life-cycle, thus assisting in reducing the numbers of beetles and consequently the damage caused to the elms," Mr Dash explained.
"To treat your own trees, mix 2% of Carbaryl with water and spray around the trunk in a one-metre band up from the ground, going around the trunk several times to ensure a good covering. Be sure not to miss any low branches under the area you have already treated where you feel beetle larvae could congregate," he added.
Carbaryl is a contact insecticide available from most nurseries and hardware stores, and is considered by the Department of Sustainability and Environment as the appropriate and safest measure to control this type of larvae infestation.
Latrobe City’s Parks Officer, John Ruyg, said that bark-banding in Traralgon had already taken place, with the work in Moe, Morwell, Boolarra, Yinnar and Churchill being undertaken this week. "Bark-banding is just one of the tools in our armoury being used to help keep Latrobe’s elm trees healthy," he explained.
"The health of the overhead canopy of many of our street and parkland elms has changed significantly over the last couple of years, partly because of a soil injection treatment that has been applied to them for the last three years. Soil injection last took place in November 2003, and after a recent inspection, arborists have found that there is currently no sign of beetle damage to the treated elms at all," Mr Ruyg said.
"There are also some exciting biological controls currently being trialled as well," Mr Ruyg revealed. "Recently, a parasitic fly Erynniopsis antennata was released in several locations throughout Victoria including the Latrobe Valley. How effective the fly will be in decimating elm leaf beetles is still an unknown quantity at the moment. It will take several years before the true outcome will be known and it is important in the meantime that residents continue to take other steps to control the elm leaf beetle," Mr Ruyg said.
If not sure how to treat your own elm trees for elm leaf beetle infestation, contact Latrobe City Council’s Morwell Depot, telephone 5128 5720. To enquire about having your own trees treated by a private spraying contractor, telephone 0419 118 558.
Source: www.gippsland.com Published by: news@gippsland.com
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