Insect control

Limiting cicadas

Cicadas are mostly noisy and clumsy -- but they can damage trees. Females lay eggs below the bark of limbs. Limbs can sometimes fall off, so the damage is primarily cosmetic. If enough females use the tree, it will die, said Bruce Barrett, entomologist with the University of Missouri's Extension Office.

Here are tips for limiting the cicadas' affect on trees:

• Cover young trees with cheesecloth or mosquito netting during the egg-laying period. Tie netting to the trunk of the tree beneath the lower branches.
• Wrap the base of trees with bands of burlap from mid-May to mid-June. Cover the burlap with stick adhesive, which will trap emerging nymphs. Remove the nymphs daily.
• Within a four-to-six-week period after eggs are laid, prune and destroy young twigs.
• Delay tree planting to fall or the following spring during outbreak years.
• Use the pesticide carbaryl on ornamentals during the egg-laying period, repeating the process every seven to 10 days. Esfenvalerate or carbaryl are recommended for commercial orchards.

Limiting mosquitoes

Help keep Missouri's 50 species of mosquitoes at bay by limiting where they breed.

• Empty and destroy cans, old tires and anything else that holds standing water.
• Inspect water in plant containers and change water if larvae appear.
• Change water in wading pools and birdbaths weekly.
• Add top-feeding minnows to garden ponds.
• Keep rain gutters unclogged and flat roofs dry.
• Fill in low areas around the home that hold water.
• Use tight covers for cisterns, cesspools, septic tanks, fire barrels, rain barrels and tubs where water is stored.
• Remove tree stumps that may hold water; fill tree holes with sand and mortar.

Source: University of Missouri's Extension Office