I have five willow trees on my property located in the Interior. As far as I can tell only one has these red parasites on the leaves. What are my options for getting rid of them....or do I need to get rid of them? They appear as larger red capsuls on the underside of the leaves. My yard is organic and next to fish breeding foreshore......lj
I'm not sure what kind of willow you have but it looks pretty good. The middle photo is a little blurry. How big are those red spots? Have you tried scraping one off? Could it be insect scale? Willows are very important to wildlife. According to my Naturescape BC bookjlet, many months and butterflies use willows for larval food source.
I am not sure what kind this willow is either. I do know for sure it is not a weeping willow and I do know that it is indigenious to this area. I didn't know about the butterflies...this does explain why we have so many in our back yard. The parasites on the leaves look like lady bugs with white spots.....yes you can pick them off. Any ideas on what to do with them.
Insect galls. Don't think they do much harm. Some info here http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2006.html and sawfly gall http://tiee.ecoed.net/vol/v3/experiments/sawfly/downloads.html Maybe the willow is Salix amygdaloides , Peach leaf willow. Some info here http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Salix amygdaloides .
I've got a Salix 'tortuosa' that is getting less and less twisty. It is however, a happy home to many ladybugs (and some aphids). I did a quick count last night and easily spotted 8 ladybugs in a 1m x .5m area of tree canopy.
