The Elizabeth Neighborhood Cankerworm Project
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What Is The Fall Cankerworm?
The fall cankerworm or just cankerworm (Alsophila pometaria) is an extremely destructive insect native to North America. Adult cankerworms emerge from the ground in late October through early December and the females (as wingless moths) crawl up tree trunks onto higher branches, where they mate with male cankerworms. They then lay masses of eggs on limbs and trunks. In the spring, these eggs hatch and tiny green inchworms spend the next couple weeks eating their way through the new leaf canopies while dropping into the ground on silken threads to pupate in the soil to renew the cycle for the next generation of worms.
These worms are so voracious in the Spring, that they can chew through an entire mature oak canopy in 36-48 hours. The chewing causes extreme stress to the tree as it will try and re-leaf. The stress caused from a cankerworm can be so severe, that it can lead to the premature death of trees, especially an older tree, as many of ours in Elizabeth are. Our tree banding efforts will focus on catching these wingless females as they crawl up the trees by trapping them in a sticky wrapping of a tar paper band covered with a layer of sticky Tanglefoot.
Entomologists can not explain why the infestation of the cankerworm in Charlotte has become the worst in the nation. In order to save our beautiful trees and canopies, each Fall we ask that neighbors band their trees. However, simply banding a tree does not mean that tree is safe. Because the inchworms are highly mobile and will move from one tree canopy, to a nearby or touching tree canopy, tree banding is only effective when all canopies that touch are banded. In other words, if you band your trees, but your neighbor doesn't, and your trees and their trees canopies touch, your tree is at risk.
Therefore 100% neighborhood participation is needed to ensure that all trees are protected and banded. If each resident bands 3-5 trees, which should only take an hour or so of their time, we could have every tree in Elizabeth banded! What an accomplishment.
Images of tree leaves that cankerworms have destroyed.
*City arborist Don McSween, who oversees Charlotte's thousands of street trees, says the Queen City has the worst cankerworm infestation in the country. The only other place with anything like Charlotte's problem is Regina, Saskatchewan.
An image of what the female bug looks like in the Fall when
they make their way up the tree trunks. (The male cankerworms have wings and
the females are wingless.)
How and What to Band:
A common misconception is that cankerworms only like certain types of trees,
however as we have seen over the years, their appetite has increased and just
about every species of deciduous tree and shrub is susceptible to the cankerworm.
Large trees are the most important to protect because of their size, however
small trees should also be banded as well, to ensure they will someday live
to become large trees and replace those trees we have already lost.
Property owners should band all trees on their property as well as any common,
shared trees and even "city" trees if their canopies happen to touch
the canopies of the property owner's trees.
Although there are different kinds of bands, the best and most frequently
used include a batting layer covered with tar paper and a sticky spread called
Tanglefoot.
Where to Get Supplies:
Thanks to generous donations and the hard work of volunteers, the Elizabeth
Community Association is able to supply tree banding supplies at a fraction
of what they would cost at a hardware store. The cost for supplies through
the ECA is $1.00 per foot. The price of $1.00 a foot covers the cost of roofing
paper, batting, Tanglefoot and wrapping materials.
Supplies will be distributed from 8:00AM-4:00PM on 10/25/08 at Hawthorne Recreation Center. If you can not pick up your supplies on 10/25 or missed
the deadline, send an email to Trees4elizabeth@Gmail.com and we will make
alternate plans. Cash and Checks will be accepted. Please make checks out
to the ECA.
Remember, the cost to band a tree can be as little as a couple dollars per tree, which is significantly less than the cost to remove a dead tree - which can be anywhere from $1,000 - $10,000 per tree. According to the experts, trees which are infested two or more years can be so weakened that they die.
Block Captains
Block Captains are highly motivated neighborhood residents who have offered
to serve as a close point of contact for the neighbors that live around them.
The list of block captains will be posted to the website shortly<p>
| Other Places
to Buy Supplies: |
Tree Services
with Certified Arborists: |
How to Band A Tree:
Step 1 EARLY FALL (early November)
A. Wrap approximately 4" wide batting/insulation/packing around the
tree about 4-6 feet from the base of the tree. (fold it in half if it is wider
than the tar paper)
B. Make sure all cracks and crevices are filled in with batting.
C. Apply roofing paper on top of the batting.
D. Then using staples, duct tape or plastic wrap, adhere the roofing paper
to the tree at both the top and bottom of the band. Roofing paper should completely
cover the batting. (Never use nails to adhere the roofing paper to a tree)
D-1. Staple Gun Method - Staples should be several inches apart. Use as little
staples as possible. Small trees should not have staples used on them.
D-2. Duct Tape Method - Duct tape can be used as an alternative to staples, however you will probably need to wrap it around the tree several times to insure that the duct tape will hold to the tree.
D-3. Plastic Wrap Method - Plastic pallet wrap can be used in a similar method
to the duct tape. The plastic wrap should be pulled tightly and then securely
tucked under itself when done wrapping the tree.
Step 2 LATE FALL (Approx. Mid November - December. Step one and two can happen
at the same time if it is already late fall and step one has not been completed).
Wait until at least 80-90% of the leaves have fallen from the tree or before
the first hard freeze; usually the middle of November or beginning of December).
A. Using a putty knife, spread the Tanglefoot on top of the exposed roofing
paper. The Tanglefoot should be applied so that it is about a 1/8" thick
and anywhere from 3-10" wide, depending on the size of the tree.
NOTE: Tanglefoot is an environmentally safe product, made of natural gum resins,
castor oil and vegetable wax. It is extremely sticky, so wear old clothes
and disposable gloves for this part!
Step 3 WINTER (December-March)
A. Maintain and check your bands every 3-4 weeks throughout the winter. Some
trees will have an unusually high number of insects that try to crawl up them,
so if the trap is already clogged with a lot of bugs or leaves, it may be
necessary to scrape off the Tanglefoot (with dead bugs entrapped) and apply
another layer of the Tanglefoot. (You can also spread another layer on top
of an already full layer of Tanglefoot-i.e if you don't want to scrape off
a layer).
NOTE: This is necessary, because if the traps get clogged early in the winter
and are not cleaned or reapplied, the bugs will be able to crawl on top of
the traps (on top of the already trapped bugs) and get up to the canopy as
there is no sticky surfaces left to snag them.
Step 4 SPRING (late April - May)
A. Remove the bands in the late Spring after all the worms have finished
dropping from the trees. It is recommended that you leave the bands up until
after the worms are finished dropping because as they drop, some will get
caught in the residual stickiness left on the traps, which keeps them from
being able to go into the ground to then reappear the next Fall.
NOTE: If you want to ensure that your trees are 100% protected, in the Spring,
when you see the first worms start to drop, you can hire a tree company to
come spray your trees. Most tree companies listed above will come with high
powered hoses and spray pesticides into the canopy which will almost instantly
kill all worms in the sprayed area. This is extremely effective and recommended
for those who are motivated to do so. Below are images of the worm as they
look in the Spring (most are bright green or black) when they drop from the
tree canopies.
Alternative Diagram
