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Japanese Maple disease???

10 years ago

My
mature Japanese maple is showing some major issues. I am concerned that the
issues (pictures included) might spread to a sugar maple about 25 yards away.

Many
branches of the Japanese maple have white rings 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Large
areas, about 3 feet long and on one side of several branches, are covered with
white and reddish brown worm-like things. Lastly, some branches have cracked, peeling
bark. I am in USDA zone 7a. Does anyone
know if this is something that I can fix or should I cut the tree down?

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Comments (2)

Todd C
10 years ago
Well the one branch looks pretty badly damaged and likely to break anyway eventually so you can lose that. I'd try to identify the pest / disease before giving up on the whole tree
Barbara thanked Todd C
avamom2012
10 years ago
That's too bad. I'm thinking that may be due to granulate ambrosia beetles (Xylosandrus crassiusculus), which are known to infect Japanese maples and can show around this time of year. The hanging-down white areas in your photo maybe beetle frass from beetles boring small holes in the wood, into which ambrosia fungus spreads. If so, it seems quite advanced and may be best to get rid of the tree so not to let it spread to others.
Barbara thanked avamom2012
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