I am seeing some small branches from the trees in my yard that look like they have been chewed off. What’s going on here? KL

Sounds like the cause of your issue is an insect called the twig girdler (oncideres cingulata). Twig girdlers can be destructive, however the process they go through from birth through the next generation is interesting… at least in my book. Here’s why I say that.

Twig girdlers are members of the longhorned beetle family and are about 3/4 of an inch in length. This puts them in the category of smaller beetles when compared to many of the larger ones. Twig girdlers are kind of a grayish brown and have antennae about as long as their body. I mean, if you and I had antennae and were proportioned similarly to a twig girdler, we would have antennae between 5 and 6 feet long sticking out of our heads. I have to admit, life would be a bit more interesting if we did have these giant antennae, but I have totally veered off the path now.

The preferred host plants for twig girdlers would include pecan, hickory, persimmon, and elm trees. But they will also take up residence in oaks, honeylocust, hackberry, poplar, dogwood, and various fruit trees.

During the recent high winds we received, a lot of branches got blown to the ground, the difference is when it looks like the ends of these branches have been chewed off rather than broken off. Twig girdlers prefer the ends of branches that are usually 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch in diameter.

Sometime in late August to early October, the adult twig girdler beetle emerges and begins to feed on the tender bark found out near the tips of the branches. While feeding, they start to chew these small V-shaped notches around small branches. This process is called girdling.

After mating, the female deposits her eggs under the bark beyond the part of the twig that is girdled. Girdling begins to kill that branch tip which is good for her purposes because the eggs are not able to develop in healthy wood. Eventually, the girdled tip of the branch falls to the ground usually because of a wind or even its own weight.

Each of these twigs typically have 3 to 8 eggs but there could be up to 40 eggs. Over the course of the adult’s 6-to-10-week lifespan, this process is repeated many times with each female depositing up to a total of 200 eggs which then begin to hatch in about 3 weeks. After hatching, the larvae burrow into the dead twig and begin eating.

The larvae overwinter in these twigs either in the tree or on the ground. In the spring, the larvae grow quickly and begin to tunnel toward the girdled end of the twig, eating the woody portion of the twig while leaving the bark intact thus building their own little place to pupate into the adult twig girdler. Then in late August through October, the adults chew their way out and the process begins again. Twig girdlers have one generation per year.

With only one generation per year, you can typically control the twig girdler population fairly easily by using a simple strategy. All you need to do is to pick up and throw away any girdled twigs you find laying on the ground. Doing this should interrupt the life cycle enough to keep the twig girdler population from becoming a problem for your tree.

Not doing this can cause the twig girdler population to increase substantially over the course of a few years to the point they can be a problem. Just imagine you had a dozen twig girdlers in your tree that you left unchecked. Assuming half of them were female and since each female can lay up to 200 eggs in a season, that would leave you with potentially 1200 twig girdlers next year. You can see how this could build to a problematic level in a few years.

In large infestations, it would not be uncommon to see the ground essentially covered with girdled twigs. Smaller populations are not usually a problem for established trees, but young trees can take on an unnatural appearance over the years due to excessive twig girdler populations. Fruit or nut trees can also have reduced production due to losing branch tips as well.

If you see girdled twigs hanging in a tree, you can also remove those. Granted that will be problematic in larger trees. In cases of severe infestations, you should probably contact an arborist for control suggestions. See you in the garden.

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org.

I am seeing some small branches from the trees in my yard that look like they have been chewed off. What’s going on here? KL

Sounds like the cause of your issue is an insect called the twig girdler (oncideres cingulata). Twig girdlers can be destructive, however the process they go through from birth through the next generation is interesting… at least in my book. Here’s why I say that.

Twig girdlers are members of the longhorned beetle family and are about 3/4 of an inch in length. This puts them in the category of smaller beetles when compared to many of the larger ones. Twig girdlers are kind of a grayish brown and have antennae about as long as their body. I mean, if you and I had antennae and were proportioned similarly to a twig girdler, we would have antennae between 5 and 6 feet long sticking out of our heads. I have to admit, life would be a bit more interesting if we did have these giant antennae, but I have totally veered off the path now.

The preferred host plants for twig girdlers would include pecan, hickory, persimmon, and elm trees. But they will also take up residence in oaks, honeylocust, hackberry, poplar, dogwood, and various fruit trees.

During the recent high winds we received, a lot of branches got blown to the ground, the difference is when it looks like the ends of these branches have been chewed off rather than broken off. Twig girdlers prefer the ends of branches that are usually 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch in diameter.

Sometime in late August to early October, the adult twig girdler beetle emerges and begins to feed on the tender bark found out near the tips of the branches. While feeding, they start to chew these small V-shaped notches around small branches. This process is called girdling.

After mating, the female deposits her eggs under the bark beyond the part of the twig that is girdled. Girdling begins to kill that branch tip which is good for her purposes because the eggs are not able to develop in healthy wood. Eventually, the girdled tip of the branch falls to the ground usually because of a wind or even its own weight.

Each of these twigs typically have 3 to 8 eggs but there could be up to 40 eggs. Over the course of the adult’s 6-to-10-week lifespan, this process is repeated many times with each female depositing up to a total of 200 eggs which then begin to hatch in about 3 weeks. After hatching, the larvae burrow into the dead twig and begin eating.

The larvae overwinter in these twigs either in the tree or on the ground. In the spring, the larvae grow quickly and begin to tunnel toward the girdled end of the twig, eating the woody portion of the twig while leaving the bark intact thus building their own little place to pupate into the adult twig girdler. Then in late August through October, the adults chew their way out and the process begins again. Twig girdlers have one generation per year.

With only one generation per year, you can typically control the twig girdler population fairly easily by using a simple strategy. All you need to do is to pick up and throw away any girdled twigs you find laying on the ground. Doing this should interrupt the life cycle enough to keep the twig girdler population from becoming a problem for your tree.

Not doing this can cause the twig girdler population to increase substantially over the course of a few years to the point they can be a problem. Just imagine you had a dozen twig girdlers in your tree that you left unchecked. Assuming half of them were female and since each female can lay up to 200 eggs in a season, that would leave you with potentially 1200 twig girdlers next year. You can see how this could build to a problematic level in a few years.

In large infestations, it would not be uncommon to see the ground essentially covered with girdled twigs. Smaller populations are not usually a problem for established trees, but young trees can take on an unnatural appearance over the years due to excessive twig girdler populations. Fruit or nut trees can also have reduced production due to losing branch tips as well.

If you see girdled twigs hanging in a tree, you can also remove those. Granted that will be problematic in larger trees. In cases of severe infestations, you should probably contact an arborist for control suggestions. See you in the garden.

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Photo: Clemson University - USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series , Bugwood.org