Ulmus Americana - Pests and Diseases

Pests and Diseases

The American elm is highly susceptible to Dutch elm disease (DED) and elm yellows; it is also moderately preferred for feeding and reproduction by the adult elm leaf beetle Xanthogaleruca luteola, and highly preferred for feeding by the Japanese beetle Popillia japonica in the USA. Trees grown in Europe have proven very susceptible to damage by leaf-feeding insects in general, far more so than native or Asiatic elms.

U. americana is also the most susceptible of all the elms to verticillium wilt, whose external symptoms closely mimic those of DED. However, the condition is far less serious, and the tree should recover the following year.