Increasing biological control of soft-scale insects by excluding ants from trees. Tree Fund Webinar

"Increasing biological control of soft-scale insects by excluding ants from trees" presentation is brought to you by Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund). Presented by Caleb Wilson, PhD on March 3, 2026

With funding from the John Z. Duling Research Grant Program.

Soft-scale insects such as magnolia scale, calico scale, and oak lecanium scale are common pests on urban trees that are hard to manage. Ants feed on they honeydew excreted from soft-scales and ants protect scales from predators and parasitoids that normally aid in scale regulation. Therefore, excluding ants from tree canopies should enhance scale regulation by predators and parasitoids. We tested the ability of basal trunk sprays of insecticides (bifenthrin and spinosad) as well as ant baits (spinosad and Disodium Octaborate Tetrahydrate - DOT) to exclude ants from oak trees infested with oak lecanium scale and we looked at resultant impacts on scale biocontrol. In this presentation I will share our research findings, our future plans to expand this work, and suggest how ant exclusion can be used to effectively manage scales

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