Sap-sucking Bugs Make a Mess of Indiana's State Tree

Tuliptree with scale and
sooty mold (Purdue PPDL)

Across Indiana this week, homeowners with tulip poplar trees could be finding their cars and landscape plants covered in a mysterious sticky film. This time of year tulip poplars are easily recognized by leaves whose shape resembles a tulip and the two inch long lime green and orange flowers in the tree canopy.

The culprit in this sticky mess could be the tulip tree scale insect, a small sap-sucking bug that feeds on the trees’ branches. Declared as the state tree of Indiana in 1931, tulip poplars are well-regarded and widely planted for their beautiful flowers and form, shade, and rapid growth. The tree’s sap carries vital nutrients, and feeding by the insect can cause damage to the trees in addition to the unsightly mess.  <Read More>