Have you noticed the leaves of poplar trees turning brown in West Virginia? We find that this is caused by an invasion of yellow poplar weevils; the black beetle native to our state.
"The weevils have been here since before people settled this country. This is not something new. Some years are worse than others. This is one of those years," according to West Virginia Department of Agriculture Plant/Pest Biologist, Dr. Berry Crutchfield in a recent statement to WBOY News in Morgantown.
Most healthy poplar trees will be able to withstand the damage. But they will transformed by the encounter. Added stressors, such as drought, may cause a tree damaged by weevils to not return to normal.
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