Damage to Orchard Trees - what is the cause?
April 25, 2008 by fruitforum
The pictures below are of a tree in an community orchard in Harston, Cambridgeshire.
The bark has been shed completely on all of the main boughs, which have died as a result. There are extensive beetle larvae galleries on the affected areas.
Has anyone else experienced this sort of damage? Does anyone know what has caused it?
On the day this was posted I had been browsing through a copy of ‘Insect Pests of Fruit Trees’, a collection of leaflets issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries circa 1934. This has illustrations of damage by Bark Beetle (and Shot Borer) which looks very similar to the damage on your trees.
See these these pictures on : http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2320/2456783064_8e55107676_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3017/2456784090_36f2ab78ac_b.jpg
The invasion of wood boring beetles probably occurred many years ago and I doubt that they caused the tree`s demise, although their action probably assisted in the decline.
Wood boring beetles are often found in old trees, including fruit trees. Nowadays one doesn’t see an old tree in a commercial orchard. The long departed Dr Arthur Massee, leading entomologist at the old East Malling Research Station, used to recommend treatment of bark with tar oil winter wash, hand painting affected trees, which successfully fumigated the trunk. There would be something in early editions of ‘Pests of Fruit and Hops’ by A. M. Massee, published by Crosby Lockwood (1945).
Probably due to beetles although some other insect larvae can cause damage like this. You could try sending the picture to the Coleopterist website.