 ... LEAF IT ALONE! ... |
... LEAF IT ALONE! ... |
June 28, 2008Arcticulates ®Focusing on Alaska's BeautyAuthor: K. Fields~ Leaf It Alone ~They are so pretty with shades of green in the summer. The colors they produce in the fall are breathtaking yellows and oranges. Well... for the past 6 years or maybe more (it sure seems like forever) our trees in the Interior of Alaska have been attacked by what they call Aspen Leaf Miners. They are teeny tiny moth like insects that are whitish gray in color. They lay eggs in the new buds on the trees, then die within a couple of weeks, and the hatchlings will live for a year, even in the coldest of winters. As the leaf matures so do the little hatched worms (which almost resemble a tiny, tiny caterpillar). As this little wormy insect matures, it tunnels through the leaf leaving trails all over it until the leaf has no dark green color left, and it ends up looking a silvery grayish green color. Aspen Leaf Minors Trail
The worst part is, after the leaves are damaged, they start curling and turning an ugly yellowish brown and fall off the trees. Some of the Aspen trees are already beginning to look as if it is near autumn. I remember a few years ago we had a few trees infected with these insects, and now almost every tree is silver grey in color by the first week of July. Aspen Leaf Miner Damage to Leaf
It seems that there has been nothing that can get rid of these insects. I was hoping that it was just a cycle and they would die down in a few years, but the years have dragged on and on, and I am starting to worry about the Aspens in Alaska. But on a happier note! I think nature is handling the problem all by herself, because I have noticed that the Aspens are seeding like crazy, it is a cotton type fuzz that looks like fluffy snow falling from the Aspen trees around here. This means they are still reproducing, perhaps heavier then I have ever seen. Could this possibly be a built in survival instinct of the Aspen, so that it won’t be completely destroyed. Plus! I have read that Aspens naturally seep “nectar” near the leaf stems, and this “nectar” draws ants, and these ants eat Leaf Minors. This explains why there's more ants then usual around here. Hmmmm! Later... K Fields See also: Blooming Prosperity!
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