yellow poplar weevil

Whilst kicked back on my deck pondering the black clouds rolling in, I marveled at the ‘Yellow Bird’ magnolia that has been blooming for about 3 weeks now.  I was smugly congratulating myself on selecting a great plant for the Drapescape view, when suddenly my “diagnostic spider senses” went on full alert!

 

 

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We held our OSU Extension Nursery, Landscape, and Turf Team (ENLTT) meeting yesterday at Dawes Arboretum. Among the beautiful landscapes and impressive collections was clear evidence that Yellow Poplar Weevils had made a return appearance in central Ohio. The adults feed on leaves and the larvae feed within leaves as leafminers.

Yellow poplar weevil (Odontopus calceatus) is a snout beetle that causes mostly cosmetic damage on tuliptree (also known as yellow poplar and tulip poplar), sassafras, and certain magnolias. I noted damage on tuliptree this past week while also noting developing cicada tree flagging also occurring on tuliptree. Damage on tuliptree leaves includes little bean-shaped scar-like pits in leaves due to epidermal feeding by the weevil adults and larger leaf blotch mines by the weevil larvae. Damage is usually just cosmetic, but in outbreaks may result is a scorched appearance to the...