Southwest Pest and Disease Flashcards

Which insect is primarily responsible for the decline of piñon-juniper woodlands across the Southwest during prolonged drought periods?

Answer: Piñon ips (Ips confusus)

Piñon ips (Ips confusus) has been the primary driver of mass piñon mortality during Southwest drought events, killing millions of trees.

Bacterial wetwood (slime flux) seeping from a cottonwood trunk in Albuquerque is best managed by:

Answer: Improving tree vigor through appropriate irrigation and fertilization; avoid wounding

Bacterial wetwood has no cure; management focuses on reducing tree stress through proper cultural practices while avoiding unnecessary wounding that introduces bacteria.

A certified arborist notices galls on the roots of a young Arizona cypress. The most likely causal organism is:

Answer: Crown gall (Agrobacterium tumefaciens)

Crown gall caused by Agrobacterium tumefaciens produces characteristic warty, tumor-like growths at the root crown and on roots of many woody plants.

The cottonwood borer (Plectrodera scalator) is most effectively detected during its adult stage by:

Answer: Inspecting trunks and root flares for large black-and-white adult beetles in summer

Adult cottonwood borers are large, distinctive black-and-white beetles that can be visually detected on trunk bases and roots during summer emergence.

Seiridium canker on Italian cypress and other Cupressus species in the Southwest is most accurately described as:

Answer: A fungal disease causing dieback of branches with resinous cankers on affected stems

Seiridium canker (Seiridium cardinale and related species) is a fungal disease causing branch dieback and resin-soaked cankers, particularly severe on stressed cypress.

Which abiotic condition mimics the symptoms of nitrogen deficiency in urban trees planted in Albuquerque's alkaline soils?

Answer: Iron chlorosis due to high soil pH limiting iron availability

Alkaline soils above pH 7.5 lock up iron, causing interveinal chlorosis (yellowing between green veins) that resembles nutrient deficiency.

Apache pine tip moth (Rhyacionia sp.) infestations on young ponderosa pines in the Sandia Mountains are best managed using which integrated approach?

Answer: Pruning and destroying infested terminals combined with appropriately timed insecticide applications

Removing and destroying infested shoot tips combined with systemic or contact insecticides timed to new adult emergence provides the most effective control.