Insect Note #P-1 (Revised 9/2004)

Dated: 1/94
Placed on the Web 5/95 by the Department of Entomology, NCSU

Insects and Related Pests of Pecan

Field Key for Identification of Pests of Pecan

Insects Attacking the Nuts

• Olive green caterpillars up to 1/2 inch long that feed on buds or in young shoots in early spring. Later in spring feed in young nuts usually entering near stem end --- Pecan Nut Casebearer

• White caterpillars up to 3/8 inch long which destroy developing nuts and tunnel in shucks of older nuts --- Hickory Shuckworm

• White legless grubs which feed in nuts in late summer --- Pecan Weevil

Insects Attacking Foliage

• Soft-bodied yellow to black insects which produce honeydew, may cause yellow blotches on leaves --- Aphids
  
  
• Tiny greenish 8-legged arthropods that congregate on leaves near midrib often forming very light webs. Leaves appear scorched or rolled into gall-like growth --- Spider Mite or Pecan Leafroll Mite

• Caterpillars feeding in small gray case during spring. Damage is done primarily when buds and leaves are unfolding. Trees may be kept in defoliated condition for 3 to 4 weeks. Larvae found in summer feeding cases on underside of leaves from May to November --- Pecan Leaf Casebearer

• Olive-green caterpillar tunneling in shoots in early spring --- Pecan Nut Casebearer

• Galls on leaves, twigs, and nuts --- Pecan Phylloxera

• Leaves eaten in early spring by light-green caterpillar. Midribs and veins of leaves left intact --- Sawfly

• Brown beetles feeding on foliage at night --- May Beetles

• Green beetles feeding on foliage at night --- Green June Beetles

• Hairy, pale yellow, black-spotted caterpillar up to 1/4 inches long feeding on pecan trees in large, white webs encasing entire branches --- Fall Webworm

• Large colonies of black caterpillars with long, soft hairs feeding in colonies on foliage. No webs --- Walnut Caterpillar

• Dark gray, active caterpillars up to 3 inches long feeding on foliage in early spring --- Pecan Catocola

• Masses of frothy white foam enclosing tiny green insect --- Spittlebug

• Tiny greenish caterpillars feeding on terminals and axils of young trees, primarily nursery stock, but sometimes larger trees --- Pecan Bud Moth

Insects Attacking Limbs, Trunks, and Twigs

• Beetles girdling twigs and limbs in late summer and fall --- Pecan Twig Girdler

• Shot-like holes about 1/8 inch in diameter in trunks and dying limbs --- Shothole Borer

• White flatheaded borers tunneling underneath bark of trunk and limbs --- Flatheaded Borer

• Round holes about the size of a pencil in the trunk, characterized by a pile of reddish pellets at the base of the tree --- Pecan Carpenterworm

• Limbs encrusted with scales which closely resemble the color of the bark - Obscure Scale