yellow poplar weevil

Because Magnolia X brooklynensis 'Yellow Bird' is a prized plant for my wife in the Drapescape, I keep a watchful eye on its performance.  Unfortunately, this year the frosty weather nipped it as the butter-yellow flowers were emerging; therefore, the floral display merely rated a so-so glance, rather than the typical stunning WOW!   As I was mowing around it, I got a close up, face full of leaves allowing me to note the holey havoc wreaked on its leaves. 

 

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We held our OSU Buckeye Environmental Horticulture Team strategic planning meeting this week at Mohican Lodge and Conference Center. A hike in Mohican State Forest revealed that Yellow Poplar Weevils (Odontopus calceatus, family Curculionidae) are producing noticeable damage on their namesake host in that part of the state.

I enjoy sitting out on the deck just absorbing the sunshine, watching leaves flutter on my wife’s favorite magnolia, Magnolia X brooklynensis 'Yellow Bird'.  This deciduous tree has an upright, pyramidal form with beautiful three inches high, vase-shaped blooms with butter-yellow petals, which emerge in late spring.  The large elliptical-shaped leaves are 4-8 inches long and 4-6 inches wide.  Suddenly, I was struck by the thought… Hey, just a minute, I can see blue sky through the leaves!  What the heck is going on here?

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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...