Question
I live in SW Virginia, and I have a large maple tree in my yard that has small white bugs that look like bits of fine white thread balled up, they drop on cars & grass, as well as drip sticky residue.  I think they're bugs, as they move occasionally if you examine them up close.  They've been on the tree for about a month and seem to be getting worse not better.  I haven't been able to identify this thing on-line, am wondering if you have any information on it and how to treat it/get rid of it.

Thanks!

Answer
These are aphids sounds like cottony aphids. These insects suck the juices from the plant and secrete a substance called honeydew which id high in sugar content and sticky. Normally a sooty mold will grow on the honeydew and turn the branches black. Ants and bees will be present to gather the honeydew. cottony aphids produce a waxy material as the they feed and this is the white "fluff".

The foliage can be sprayed with a contact insecticide.  Numerous contact insecticides are registered for aphid control. Contact insecticides currently registered for aphid control include: acephate (Orthene),  bifenthrin (Talstar), chlorpyrifos (Dursban),  diazinon, malathion, nicotine sulfate, pyrethrum, rotenone, resmethrin, and tetramethrin + sumithrin.

All the foliage will need to be sparyed. On large trees this may not be possible. These are soil applied insecticides that will be taken up by the trees roots and transported to the leaves and when the sphid sucks the juices it is killed.  These are called systemic insecticides. The most recent, Imidacloprid, is sold under the trade name Bayer Advanced Garden Tree & Shrub Killer Concentrate. (Merit is the trade name of imidacloprid used by professional tree care companies.) It is applied as a drench over the root zone. An older梐nd much more toxic梥oil systemic insecticide that is still available for some ornamental plant uses is DiSyston (disulfoton). DiSyston is sold as granules or in plant food mixtures for soil application.


There are several insecticides effective for aphid control when sprayed on plants. Perhaps most effective are those with systemic activity that allows them to move through the plant. Acephate (Isotox, Orthene) is the most widely available systemic insecticide.