Question
Hello,

I live in South Carolina and have a weeping willow in my back yard that is having problems. I am not sure how old the tree is but it is about 20ft. tall. We moved into the house this spring and the tree looked healthy but just a little thin. Now there are hardly any leaves on the tree. The stems are still green. There are bugs crawling all over the tree that look like yellow jackets without wings. We have many trees in our back yard (no other willows) and they are all beautiful with no problems. Some are as large as 40 ft tall and some as small as 12 ft. all different kinds from populars to crape myrtles. If you have any suggestions please let me know. This was my favorite tree on the property and I would love to keep it.

Answer
Hi I'm sure without pictures what you have there.Do to the large numbers you see on the tree it may be lady beetles. Although they don't hurt the tree they could be feeding on something else.If you could send a pic maybe I could better help you.Here is a link to a lady beetle site. Sorry I could not help more at this time. Bill
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/biocontrol/predators/ladybintro.html