Are you seeing caterpillars or just assuming? If it is caterpillars, you can spray the remaining leaves with Bt 'Kurstaki' which is a bacteria that specifically targets caterpillars. However, if you like having butterflies and moths around, be advised that you shouldn't use Bt because it will destroy their population.

Here in southern OK in the summer months it is usually grasshoppers that devour the fruit tree leaves, but it could be any leaf-eating pest, and there are thousands of possibilities. If the leaves have very distinct circular pieces cut out of them (looks like huge bites taken out of them), it might even be leaf-cutter bees.

If it is caterpillars OR grasshoppers, you should see their frass (scat, poop, or whatever you wish to call it) on some of the remaining leaves or on the ground underneath the tree.

Most trees can handle quite a lot of insect-caused leaf damage as long as the trees are kept moist and actively growing and not allowed to dry out and go semi-dormant. If they get too dry and go semi-dormant, they might not have the energy to regrow leaves to replace those damaged by the pests.

Dawn

I have seen several grasshoppers in the garden lately, since it has gotten so hot.

Ilene,

We started seeing grasshoppers in the winter months, and they have beeb here in huge numbers since April or May, and it gets worse every month. They've mostly been feeding in the veggie garden, where they can hide in the tomato plants/cages and it is harder for the guineas to get to them. Except for devouring the bush bean foliage though, they haven't done a lot of damage, surprisingly. Once they venture outside the garden fence, though, the guineas devour them. The cats, of course, just think the grasshoppers are cat toys.

The hoppers haven't been on my trees or shrubs at all, but the fruit trees are dropping leaves because of the heat and drought anyway.

Dawn

Hey Dawn and Ilene - thanks so much for writing back. I have not seen what is eating the leaves, I'm just guessing but I have seen grasshoppers in my yard so maybe they're the culprit. I'm sure it's not leaf-cutters though - the entire leaf is gone except the middle vein. So if it's grasshoppers, what do you all suggest to stop them - or should I just let them be. The trees are doing very well with the exception of the smaller of the two, but he's still going to make it just fine (he got a late start in being planted compared to the other one). Thanks again! Hoping next yr they'll bear even more cherries.

If I had to guess, it'd be either caterpillars or grasshoppers, but if it is caterpillars, you should be seeing them around.

As long as the trees are doing well, I wouldn't worry. There's not much you can do to kill grasshoppers because most chemicals are not very effective at killing them once the hoppers are large.

We had a really, really severe grasshopper year about 6 or 8 years ago and the farmers and ranchers (and some homeowners as well) sprayed chemicals like mad, in just insane amounts. They didn't kill a very large percentage of grasshoppers, but did manage to poison a lot of the wild birds. We didn't see a single American Bluebird for about 3 years after that.

One of the problems with grasshopppers is that they are migratory and move in large swarms. So, even if you somehow "wiped out" the ones on your property (which is next to impossible), a new bunch would just fly in. I put out bird feeders for the birds, and the wild birds (and my free-range guineas and chickens) eat tons of grasshoppers daily.

If you feel like grasshopers are a permanent problem in your location, the best treatment is to put out a biological agent, Nosema locuste, that can be found in products like Grasshopper Attack and Nolo Bait. It is really only effective if sprinkled around the area when the grasshoppers are in the smaller instars, roughly 1/4" to 1/2" in length, which is roughly March through early May in southern OK, and might be a little later in more northern parts of the state. Nolo Bait has a short shelf life, about 3 months I think, so you have to buy it fresh in the spring and use it promptly. I think it made a big difference here in April-May, but since then the constantly-arriving new swarms of hoppers have been keeping all the birds busy. I don't have much hopper damage anywhere in the landscape, but have had some in the fenced-in veggie garden. The new 7'-tall deer fence has been keeping the guineas out more than I like....they don't seem to go into the veggie garden as much as before, and once they are inside, they "forget" how to walk out through the gate and squawk anxiously until I come lead them out. (Guineas have small brains but eat up to 2 lbs. of grasshoppers per bird per day. I love my guineas, but they definitely are NOT rocket scientists.)

Dawn

Thanks Dawn - I don't seem to have a big infestation of hoppers so I think I'll just put a bird feeder and maybe a bird bath close to the trees and let them feast. Wish I had enough land to have some guineas.......that's my dream for retirement maybe.

Japanese beetles ate the leaves of all of our fruit trees this year. Cherries, peach, almond, pear, and plum. Didn't see any on the fig though. As I said in a couple other threads, I am delighted with the traps. Have trapped over 2 GALLONS of the things so far. Next year the traps will go out earlier. Dorothy