Hickory decline
Ceratocystis smalleyi and
Scolytus quadrispinosus
- Leaves are wilted or undersized, thin canopy with dead branches
- When bark is peeled back, numerous reddish brown oval cankers up to 1 ft. long can be seen
- Bark surface often shows no symptoms, occasionally cracking or dark sunken area can be seen
- Dark bleeding spots that appear in May or June indicate cankers below the bark
- Groups of young green shoots (sprouts) often form along the trunk; these wilt and die within a year
- Round 1/8th inch exit holes of hickory bark beetles on upper trunk
- Larval galleries often visible in discolored sapwood
- Trees can decline and die in as little as two years when beetle populations are high
