Caulocampus acericaulis

Leaf Drop on Sugar Maple

The leaf-shedding handiwork of the Maple Petiole Borer (Caulocampus acericaulis, family Tenthredinidae) is becoming evident in southwest Ohio. This non-native sawfly was introduced into the United States from Europe. Although the sawfly prefers sugar maples (Acer saccharum), other maples may occasionally be infested.
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Authors
Joe Boggs
Annual Leaf Drop from Maple Petiole Borer boggs.47@osu.edu Thu, 05/28/2020 - 19:42
Reports of maples dropping green leaves are on the rise in southwest Ohio. They are not being shed because of maple anthracnose which usually happens a bit later in the season.
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Joe Boggs
Annual Maple Leaf-Drop boggs.47@osu.edu Tue, 05/21/2019 - 17:54
Finding large numbers of green leaves littering the ground beneath maple trees wouldn't be a surprise given the recent high winds and heavy rains over much of Ohio. However, you should take a second look at this time of the year for short petioles on the shed leaves and broken petioles remaining attached to the tree. Both are tell-tale symptoms of the maple petiole borer.
Published on
Authors
Joe Boggs