In the taiga part of Russia, there are mainly two types of spruce: common spruce, or European spruce (Picea abies, Picea excelsa) , And Siberian spruce (Picea obovata) . In the landscaping of cities and household plots, spruce species native to North America And Western Europe:prickly spruce ( Picea pungens), Engelman (Picea engelmannii), Serbian ( Picea omorika) and others are susceptible to attack by several hundred species of insects and herbivorous mites, many of which are monophages, i.e. they feed only on spruce trees. Pests inhabit all organs of the tree: buds, shoots, needles, branches, trunks, roots and seeds (cones).
Along with this spruce susceptible to many infectious diseases, but Among them, the most common and dangerous are fungal ones, affecting needles, trunks, branches and roots. These diseases lead to weakening and sometimes death of trees. The infection is transmitted through air flow, water, birds, and humans.
Spruce Pests
Needle-eating insects
Insects that damage buds and needles are called pine-eating pests. They are quite numerous and are represented by species from various families of butterflies, sawflies and beetles.
The feeding of pine-eating insects begins in early spring with buds and young shoots. Spruce buds are being eaten from the inside larvae of the spruce bud weevil, spruce bud sawfly and caterpillars of the spruce bud moth. Eating buds from the edges genera Brachyderes and Strophosoma.
In the center of young growing shoots they are populated caterpillars of shoot moths and gall midge flies. Shoots damaged by insects stop growing, thicken, bend or break off.
Damage to needles by the common spruce sawfly
Several species feed on needles sawflies, caterpillars of butterflies from the family of moths, moths, etc. Young needles on the apical and lateral shoots are first mined and then eaten whole larvae of the common spruce sawfly. Mined needles acquire a red-brown color and do not fall off for a long time.
False caterpillar of the common spruce sawfly
Last year's needles of young spruce trees are eaten two types of sawfly weavers: solitary and nesting. The larvae of these sawflies live in untidy web nests consisting of pieces of needles and excrement. The number of sawflies on spruce trees is most often low, and the degree of predation does not exceed 30%.
Nun butterfly caterpillar
Significant consumption of needles in individual years V different regions countries are calling butterfly caterpillars-nunwort, spruce yellowtail and some species.
Sucking pests
Sucking pests suck juices from needles, shoots, branches, trunks with smooth bark and even roots. Several dozen insects of this type are known on spruce trees, including coccids (scale insects, false scale insects, mealybugs), aphids, Hermes and herbivorous mites.
Most sucking pests have small sizes and unnoticeable. They can be detected by the sugary (sticky) secretions that cover the surface of the needles and branches, or the presence of galls. These pests, when multiplying en masse, greatly weaken young trees.
Hermes spruce fir gall
At the ends of growing shoots, in galls of various sizes and colors, they live, having a complex development cycle. Some types of Hermes spend part of their life on spruce, and the other part on larch or fir. The development of one generation of Hermes occurs in galls, which look like small cones of light green or pinkish-green color.
The galls abandoned by Hermes dry out and turn black. Further growth of the shoot usually stops.
On young spruce trees, it sucks the juices from the needles and shoots spruce. Trees damaged by it are covered with the finest cobwebs, especially visible on the underside of the branches. The needles turn brown and fall off. The decorative quality of spruce trees is sharply reduced. During the growing season, mites form from four to six generations, so the degree of damage increases towards the end of summer.
Spruce spider mite
Many types aphids, feeding on needles and shoots, are covered with light whitish or grayish waxy secretions, allowing them to be detected when examining the branches. Juices are sucked out of the thin roots of young fir trees. two types: spruce honeysuckle and spruce root. Root aphids mainly damage seedlings and saplings.
Stem pests
A large group of pests of wood and bark of trunks, branches and roots are xylophagous insects– these are dozens of species from the following families: bark beetles, longhorned beetles, gold beetles, weevils, grinders, borers, horntails and some others. All of them settle mainly on heavily weakened, drying out and dead trees (dead wood, dead wood, stumps, cut timber). Many are technical pests, gnawing deep holes in wood, reducing its grade or rendering it unusable.
Resin funnels of the great spruce beetle (Dendrocton)
The most dangerous of the xylophages are those species that are capable of colonizing living, growing, but slightly weakened trees. These types include. Its settlements on the trunk are easily recognized by clearly visible piles of “drill flour” white and large (about 3 cm) resin funnels on the bark at the root collar of the trunks.
They settle on dry roadsides of living trees horntails, which contribute to the development of rot in wood and the formation of hollows.
Moves of the bark beetle
It feeds in the thickness of the bark of large growing trees. cow grinder, whose larval passages do not affect the sapwood and practically do not harm the trees.
In the bark of young, less often middle-aged spruce trees, late bark beetle, which rarely causes harm.
Cones and seeds
19 species of insects develop in spruce cones - conobionts. This caterpillars of leaf roller butterflies, moths, larvae of seed eaters, gall midge flies, and beetles.
Cones damaged by insects often become distorted, drops of resin flow out of them and excrement, held together by cobwebs, spills out. More often than others, young spruce cones develop caterpillars of spruce moth and spruce budworm. In fallen cones you can find spruce pine cone grinder. Squirrels, crossbills and woodpeckers feed on ripening spruce seeds.
Diseases of ate
Needle diseases
(causative agent – mushroom Lirula macrospora) . Are affected different types ate. In summer, the needles acquire a brown or red-brown color; on its lower side, fruiting bodies of the fungus are formed, which look like black elongated, flat or convex pads, elongated to half the length of the needles or more.
Common Schutte spruce
(causative agent – mushroom Lophodermium piceae) . In summer, the affected needles become reddish-brown in color; on both sides, fruiting bodies of the fungus are formed in the form of round-oval, black, convex pads up to 1.5 mm long, separated from each other by thin black transverse lines.
(causative agent – mushroom Rhizosphaera kaekhoffii) . In autumn, the affected needles become light brown or rusty red in color. In spring, fungus sporulation forms on the underside of the needles, looking like small black dots located in chains along the midline.
Browning (rhizospheriosis) of spruce needles
Northern rust(causative agent – mushroom Chrysomyxa ledi) . At the beginning of summer, sporulation of the fungus appears on the underside of the needles in the form of orange cylindrical small bubbles, often completely covering the needles.
Northern spruce needle rust
golden rust(causative agent – mushroom Chrysomyxa abietis) . In the second half of summer, sporulation of the fungus develops on the underside of the needles in the form of bright orange flat waxy-velvety pads up to 1 cm long.
Diseases of needles lead to weakening of trees, reduced growth, and loss of decorativeness.
Diseases of trunks, branches, roots
Bacterial dropsy(the causative agent is a bacterium Erwinia multivora). There is abundant gumming on the trunks. Later, longitudinal, straight or slightly curved cracks form in the bark and wood, from which liquid emerges in the form of black streaks. The affected wood of trunks and branches is saturated with liquid and emits a characteristic sour odor. The needles turn brown and quickly fall off.
Variegated heart rot of roots and trunks(causative agent – root sponge - Heterobasidion annosum ). Core rot, variegated, pitted-fibrous, develops in the roots and on trunks, rising to a height of 3–4 m or more. The affected wood is separated from the healthy wood by a gray-violet ring. Fruit bodies mushrooms are perennial, woody, mostly prostrate, brown or brown above, light yellow below. They can be found on roots, at the base of trunks, and on stumps.
Fruiting body of the tinder fungus Shveinitz
Brown heart rot of roots and trunks(causative agent – Tinder fungus Sewing worker – Phaeolus schweinitzii ). Brown prismatic heart rot develops in the roots and butt part of the trunks, rising to a height of 2–3 m. The fruiting bodies are annual, in the form of yellow or dark brown, funnel-shaped large caps on central stalks. They form at the base of trunks, on root paws, on stumps.
White sapwood rot of roots and trunks(causative agent – autumn honey fungus – Armillaria mellea ). White fibrous rot with thin black sinuous lines develops in the roots and on trunks, rising to a height of 2–3 m or more. Under the bark, white fan-shaped films of mycelium and dark brown, almost black, branching cords (rhizomorphs) are formed, which serve as characteristic signs of the disease.The main sign of honey fungus damage is the fruiting bodies of the fungus, which form in large groups on the roots, trunks and stumps. They look like annual yellowish-brown caps on long stems.
Films of mycelium mycelium
Root rot leads to weakening and drying out of trees and entire plantings, contributing to windfall and the infestation of stem pests.
Variegated heart rot of trunks and branches(causative agent – spruce sponge – Porodaedalea chrysoloma ). The rot is brown with white oblong spots, pitted-fibrous, separated from healthy wood by a brown or dark brown ring, visible on the cross section. The fruiting bodies are perennial, woody, prostrate or prostrate-reflexed, brown or yellowish-brown, fissured. Formed on stems and on the underside of branches.
Variegated pitting trunk rot(causative agent – spruce butt tinder fungus – Onnia triqueter ). Rot is yellowish in color with oval white spots and develops in the butt part of the trunks and in the roots. The fruiting bodies are annual, in the form of thin brown caps arranged in imbricate groups.
Brown heartwood-sapwood rot of trunks(causative agent – edged tinder fungus – Fomitopsis pinicola ). The rot is reddish-brown, with cracks filled with whitish films of mycelium, breaks up into small prisms and is easily ground into powder. The fruiting bodies are perennial, large, woody, cushion-shaped, hoof-shaped, from light yellow to brownish-gray, almost black in color with a characteristic wide orange or red edge.
Brown finely fissured rot of trunks(causative agent – northern tinder fungus - Clymacocystis borealis ). Heart rot develops in the lower part of the trunk, at a height of up to 3 m. The affected wood is brownish-yellow, with numerous cracks filled with white mycelium, breaks up into small prisms and cubes. The fruiting bodies are annual, in the form of light cushion-shaped caps arranged in imbricate groups.
Stem rot leads to a gradual weakening of trees, a decrease in their resistance to windfall, and infestation by stem pests.
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Unlike its coniferous counterparts - pine, juniper and fir - spruce
does not yet apply to plants used by official medicine.
Norway spruce ‘Compacta’
Most often, gardens and parks are decorated with prickly spruce, Norway spruce and Serbian spruce; somewhat less often you can see Canadian, black and Engelmann spruce.
In our country, this tree is a symbol of the New Year and the main decoration of the winter landscape. However, not everyone knows how numerous types of spruce trees there are.
Canadian spruce "Konica" diseases
It is no secret that almost all plants are affected by diseases and pests, and blue spruce is no exception. If you notice that small yellow bubbles have appeared on the needles of your Christmas tree, then most likely the blue spruce has been affected by the fungal disease rust. To treat it, it is necessary to treat the tree once every 10 days with Vectra, Skor or Fundazol. Repeat the procedure three times.
And another fungal disease on the Konica blue spruce is the Schutte needle disease.
There is such a thing a large number of, that it is difficult to count everything, but they are all divided into needle-eaters and bark beetles (xylophages).
The first type of pest, eating needles and young shoots, completely gnaws the blue spruce. For example, if a spruce bud is eaten away from the inside, then most likely the tree was attacked by a spruce sawfly or a spruce moth caterpillar. If the plant buds are eaten away from the outside, it can be assumed that a weevil has settled on the Canadian spruce.
The listed pests are very dangerous for young seedlings because they prevent the plants from developing normally and growing their crown. At mass attack tree growth slows down or stops completely.
Pests of Canadian blue spruce that feed exclusively on needles include caterpillars of leafroller butterflies, sawflies, moths, waveweeds, weevils, yellowtails, monk butterflies and some leafrollers. These insects multiply quickly and can destroy more than one tree.
But not only the needles are attacked by pests, the bark is also susceptible to insect invasion.
This delicacy feeds on bark beetles, borers, borers, longhorned beetles and borers. They make real tunnels under the bark of the spruce, causing irreparable damage to the plant.
Most often, these insects settle on blue spruce trees growing in dry conditions. There is another pest that eats spruce bark - the large spruce beetle (dendrocton). Its presence on the tree is indicated by large (up to 3 cm) holes at the very bottom of the trunk near the root part. The holes are always generously filled with resin.
Almost any landscape design option involves the use coniferous trees. And forest areas with mature trees are considered best place for the construction of a country residence. But often the needles at the top of a spruce shoot acquire an unnatural red color, young shoots dry out and stop growing, disfiguring the tree? Why is this happening?
Conifers have their own pests, which, just like you, never cease to rejoice at their appearance on the site. Pests that affect the growth of young spruce shoots include sucking, pine-eating and stem pests. However, it should be remembered that pests rarely attack healthy, properly planted and well-groomed spruce trees. Timely application of fertilizers and correct tree care promotes the proper development of the tree and protects it from diseases.
To avoid the appearance of pests, but you don’t know what to pay attention to, consult with specialists. Call at any time, we are always in touch!
Let's talk about the main pests of young spruce shoots.
Sucking pests
Sucking pests of conifers include coccids, aphids, spider mites and hermes. When attacking a tree, they suck out the juices from the needles, trunk, shoots, branches and even roots. Outwardly, they are practically invisible, but they can be detected by the sticky secretions covering the needles and the formation of galls (small unnatural cones on spruce branches).
If there are yellowish spots on the old needles, then we can talk about damage to the tree spruce aphids. This is a small insect no more than 2 mm long, which can be detected if you place a sheet of paper under the branch being examined and knock on it. Aphids are bred ants If you find a large number of ants, you should carefully inspect the tree. Aphids also indirectly affect young shoots, slowing down their growth.
If, in addition to yellowing and curvature of the needles, fluffy white formations are visible, then it is possible that this is a lesion hermes green. It forms galls at the ends of young shoots, which enlarge, acquiring a crimson color. Pest larvae grow and develop inside such a cone - about 120 pieces. Next year, the branch on which you found the galls will dry out. Hermes larvae are brown or yellowish green. They feed on pine needles, causing them to dry out and fall off. When severely damaged by Hermes, young shoots of spruce may completely stop growing and the tree dies.
Sometimes you can see that some needles are entwined with a web, but when there is a gust of wind, the needles fly off and the branch is exposed. That's how he works spruce leaf roller, whose caterpillars mine the needles at the base. It is difficult to diagnose it if you do not touch the branch with the affected needles with your hand.
On young seedlings that do not receive proper care, it often appears spruce spider mite. The needles become covered with yellowish spots, then turn brown and crumble. The mite causes significant damage to conifers growing on dry soils during hot seasons. During their life, ticks replace 4-6 generations, which threatens to cover a significant area of damage by the end of summer.
Shiny marks, browning and further falling of needles, drying out of branches - this is a manifestation spruce false scale, the females and larvae of which feed on the juice of needles and shoots, secreting honeydew. They form colonies that can not only severely damage the tree and slow down its growth, but if urgent measures are not taken, completely destroy it.
Seedlings and saplings of conifers are very vulnerable to root aphids, which suck juices from thin roots, as a result of which the needles dry out and fall off.
The closest relatives of aphids are coniferous scale insects having white scutes on the back. In dry years they multiply in large numbers, so much so that they cover entire branches. As a result of the infection, spruce needles turn yellow and curl. In addition to the main harm, mealybugs are also carriers of viruses.
Pine-eating pests
There are quite a lot of pine-eating pests that feed on the needles and buds of coniferous trees. They are grouped into three main groups - butterflies, sawflies and beetles.
If the needles on the lateral and apical shoots change color to red-brown, but do not fall off for a long time if there is active drying of young spruce needles, which means that it has been mined and is now completely eaten by the pest of young spruce shoots - the spruce sawfly, or rather its larvae. 
Sawflies make their home in nests made from excrement and cobwebs. The fight against this group of pests comes down mainly to treatment for pine-eating caterpillars.
If the buds on a spruce tree are damaged from the inside, then the cause may be spruce bud sawfly or spruce moth larvae. If the kidney is eaten away from the outside, then this is weevil. Both the first and second, as well as damage to shoots, are extremely dangerous for young trees.
From May to July, moths can circle around coniferous trees. Don't admire prematurely. Following this, brown-gray caterpillars may appear on the branches. spotted bat, which from August to September eat needles from the tree. It could be moth dark gray or, for example, coniferous moth. In any case, it is dangerous to ignore the problem. Gives good results tree trunk injections.
Stem pests
There are also stem pests that affect the growth of young shoots. For example, spruce larvae topographer bark beetle penetrate into the bark, releasing odorous substances, to which beetles from all over the area flock, flying up to 11 km in pursuit of the smell. It is difficult to save a tree inhabited by topographers; the only one methods of combating the bark beetle is to destroy it before the young generation of insects crawls out from under the bark. If the typograph bark beetle infestation occurs in spring or early summer, then young spruce needles stop growing and the shoots actively dry out. After this, a massive fall of old needles occurs. As a rule, withered young shoots remain on the bare tree with red needles, without falling off. By the way, the topographical bark beetle purposefully destroys old coniferous trees in historical parks throughout the Moscow region.
Great spruce beetle, reaching 9mm in length, is aggressive and dangerous. It attacks old spruce trees, but does not disdain young ones. Affected trees must be removed immediately. Is there some more black spruce beetles, which make long moves in the wood, leaving characteristic notches on the surface. Eat spruce lumberjack, cutting wide passages. When affected by these pests, first of all, there is a change in the growth of young shoots of spruce, which is clearly visible to a specialist.
Most stem pests settle on old or weakened trees. Therefore, monitor their condition. Call urgently ambulance, if you notice something is wrong and don’t know what to do. The health of your trees is in your hands!
Preface
Have your pine needles lost their shine, started to crumble and turn yellow? The cause may be fungal diseases and pests. Preventive measures and appropriate treatment will help restore the health of your needles.
This disease is typical only for representatives coniferous species, it is provoked by fungal pathogens - ascomycetes. Depending on the nature of the manifestation, several forms of this disease are distinguished.
Schutte on spruce
Real Schutte– one of the main reasons for the premature loss of spruce needles. The risk zone mainly includes young and weakened conifers. Spruce needles infected with this fungus become brown, dry out and fall off. Such symptoms can be observed in spring and early summer. But in the fall, the disease manifests itself in the form of small yellow dots on spruce needles, which gradually darken. And on the branches where the needles have fallen off, black bodies form - these are fungal spores. In such a cocoon, the fungus survives winter frosts well, and in the spring it crawls out again.
Snow shutte– this type of fungus can be found on almost all types of conifers, including Norway spruce, blue spruce, Konica, lodgepole and common spruce. This disease poses a particular danger to snowy and northern regions, where it can even completely destroy spruce. Infection with the fungus occurs already at a temperature of 0 degrees, and very rapidly. The causative agents of this disease of spruce trees cause the browning and death of conifer needles after the snow melts. For summer season the fungus progresses more and more, the spruce first becomes reddish-red, and then light gray, as in the photo. The needles begin to crumble and fall off. By autumn, fungal spores become more noticeable, dotting the branches with black dots. Favorable conditions for the further spread of the fungus are falling and melting snow in the fall, drizzling rain, heavy snowfalls and a prolonged spring.
For preventive purposes, do not forget to cover the decorative spruce trees in your garden, especially the Konika spruce. Although it is considered frost-resistant, covering it for the winter will not harm it. Moreover, this will also protect Konica from sunburn, which she will help you get from the beginning of February. As protective material use burlap, film, cardboard, always leaving the bottom part open to avoid arguments.
Brown Schutte or Snowy Brown Mold. It affects absolutely all types of spruce (including blue varieties). Manifests in early spring when the snow starts to melt. Ideal temperature conditions for development are considered to be from 0 to +1 degrees. On dead brown conifer needles, a black-gray coating and dotted bodies of fungal spores are noticeable. With such a disease, the needles may not fall off for a long time, and thin branches die off gradually. The disease is provoked by dense plantings and high air humidity.
Snowy brown mold
Preventive measures include: selection of more resistant coniferous varieties (twisted and European spruce), regular thinning of dense plantings, timely destruction of diseased fallen needles and dried branches, as well as treatment with fungicides. When planting needles, pay attention to the intensity of contact with the area. sun rays. Remember, shaded areas are ideal conditions for spreading the shutte, especially for small dwarf trees– Konica and prickly spruce. Treatment of fir trees is carried out with copper-containing and sulfur preparations - 1% Bordeaux mixture, Abiga Peak, Khom. As a preventive measure, use these fungicides for spraying in early spring and fall. If there is a high risk of infection, needle treatment is also carried out in the summer.
Do conifer needles acquire a reddish tint and fall off? It is worth taking a closer look at the root system. Typically, such signs signal a very unpleasant and dangerous soil-borne disease - tracheomecosis. Most often, this type of disease affects young coniferous plants with a superficial root system and a weak taproot. These breeds include: Unfortunately, this fungal disease cannot be treated, and the spruce dies. The plant must be removed along with the soil and burned, and the soil itself where Konica grew should be disinfected with a solution of copper sulfate.
Fungal rust pathogens attack pine needles and shoot bark. Their spores quickly spread to neighboring plants, causing significant deformation. Here are some of the most common types of softwood rust.
- Pine needle rust. The development of the fungus occurs in early spring. Chaotically located yellow bubble-like pustules form on the needles. If the disease is advanced, the spruce tree loses its decorative properties - their needles quickly begin to turn yellow and fall off prematurely.
- Pine spinner, blister or columnar rust. Infection begins with conifer needles and then spreads to the bark of the trunk and branches. In place of the areas affected by rust, resin is released, and yellow-orange bubbles protrude from the cracks in the bark - aeciopustules, they can be seen in the photograph. The mycelium forms thickenings, which over time provoke the formation open wounds. Damaged shoots bend greatly and dry out.
- Rust of cones and spruce spinner. Inner side Spruce scales are affected by rounded dark brown aeciopustules. This leads to wide opening of the cones and dissimilarity of seeds. If the fungus causes the shoots to bend, this form of spruce disease is called spruce spinner. The main carrier of spores of this fungus is bird cherry.
Spruce rust
For preventive purposes, try to plant coniferous trees away from plants that tend to become infected with rust, such as garden crops include poplar, aspen, black currant, bird cherry and their hybrids. Perform constant pruning of affected shoots, trim dry branches and remove fallen needles in a timely manner. Treat fir trees for rust by spraying them with preparations. Fitosporin-M And Abiga Peak.
Let's start with, perhaps, the most important pest - the spider mite. They affect absolutely all types cultivated plants. Their main activity occurs in spring and summer in hot, dry weather. Spider mites feed on cell sap. Their presence is evidenced by the presence of numerous small dots on the needles and an ordinary cobweb entangling the needles. If the spruce is severely affected by this pest, the needles turn completely white and become covered with numerous cobwebs. If you look closely, you can see the needles moving. As a preventive measure against these insects, try to spray the needles more often to maintain constant air humidity.
Spider mite on spruce
To combat, use special preparations against ticks - acaricides Apollo, Borneo, Envidor, Floromite, Flumite, as well as proven insecticides Akarin, Actellik, Fitoverm, Oberon, Agravertin, treating several times with one of the listed products.
The most frequently attacked by sawfly insects are Konica, Serbian, European, common spruce, and can also be found on blue needles. As a rule, spruce trees affected by these sucking insects recover the following year. But where sawflies really cause significant damage is pine trees. Sometimes they can form entire nests from their own excrement and the remains of damaged needles. The sawflies themselves also hide in nests, cutting through the tissue of trees using a special file, where they lay a clutch of eggs.
It will not be difficult to detect such a clutch; outwardly, sawfly larvae look like caterpillars. Sawflies are especially active from the beginning of May to the end of June. If you don't start fighting them in time, the branches will soon look scorched and eventually die. And getting rid of them is quite easy. Mechanically remove visible nests along with larvae and spray the coniferous plant with one of the following insecticides - Fury, Aktellik, BI-58, Decis.
If you notice numerous tunnels on the bark of a coniferous tree, it means that your spruce is infested with dangerous pests - bark beetles. Laying clutches of eggs in the uterine ducts, they quickly pupate and, hatching from the pupae, gnaw holes in the bark through which they emerge. If bark beetles completely colonize the entire tree, it dies. Mostly weakened, diseased and drying trees are attacked by these pests. They pose a particular danger to small ornamental coniferous trees such as Konica (Canadian spruce). Good insecticides in the fight against these insect pests are BI-58, Bifenthrin, Clipper, Krona-Antip.
Early hermes - their activity can be observed at the end of June. Features– formation of small oval galls at the ends of branches. In August, you can see the activity of yellow sherry; the presence can be determined by fairly large green galls. But in late August and early September, late Hermes settle on the branches of coniferous trees, forming large spherical galls. The pests themselves feed on tree sap. The emerging larvae significantly deform the buds of pine and spruce. The outer shell of Hermes is covered with a durable downy growth, which makes them practically invulnerable. However, among insecticides it is still possible to distinguish worthy chemical preparations of high effectiveness - Commander And Aktar.
Early Hermes on a tree
Another common pest of conifers is the spruce aphid. These are small green insects only 1-2 mm long. When settling in colonies, they are able to suck large amounts of sap from the needles. They cause severe damage to trees such as Konica or Canadian spruce, as well as blue needles. You can notice the presence of aphids by the formation of numerous ant nests around the tree. The needles themselves become covered with yellow spots and dry out. Insecticides help control these pests Aktara, Match, Dursban. If the damage is severe, the first spraying is recommended Aktara, and with alternating drugs every 2 weeks Match and Dursban. As a preventive measure, spray twice a day in May-June. Dursban, and also take care of the destruction of ant nests - the main companions of spruce aphids.