Trees are a major part of any landscape. But when tips of branches come falling from the sky, gardeners can become alarmed. Although they are too small to harm persons or property, they are messy and a hassle to clean up. Twig girdlers are a late summer visitor from which we are now starting to see the damage.

Twig girdlers are an insect that attack elm, hickory, oak, linden, hackberry, apple, pecan, persimmon, poplar, sour gum, honeylocust, dogwood and some flowering fruit trees. Their damage appears as dead or dying twigs that fall from the tree. The adults are long-horned beetles with a grayish-brown body that is stout and cylindrical. The larva have a small head are 1 inch in length and are light brown to brownish-gray.

The beetle has a one-year life cycle. Late in the growing season, the female deposits eggs in small wounds chewed through the bark. She then chews a continuous band around the twig – girdling it. Examine the cut and you will find that the girdled twigs look like a beaver has worked on it only in miniature. The outside of the twig is smoothly cut but the center of the twig has a broken appearance. Once on the ground, the egg hatches and the larvae begins feeding on the dead wood inside. This feeding continues through the winter and most of the following summer. In August, the larvae pupate into adults and emerge to repeat the cycle.

Though the girdling is unsightly, it does not affect the overall health of the tree. Likewise, because of their life cycle, chemical control is impractical. Fallen twigs should be gathered and disposed of in either the fall or spring as this will destroy the larvae inside. Often, natural mortality is high due to excessive drying of fallen twigs or too many larvae per twig.