USED IT AFTER HE DIED. THOUSANDS OF THE MOST POPULAR SHADE TREES IN ALBUQUERQUE LOOK LIKE THEY'RE DYING THIS SUMMER - BUT DON'T HAUL OUT THE CHAINSAW. STUART DYSON REPORTS FROM DOWNTOWN - WHERE AN INVASION OF TINY INSECTS IS MAKING LIFE MISERABLE FOR THE CITY'S SYCAMORE TREES.
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'SICK SYCAMORES ALL OVER TOWN ARE LOOKING JUST LIKE THESE - THEY'RE SICK ALL RIGHT - BUT THEY'LL SURVIVE - DESPITE APPEARANCES THEY'RE NOT DYING - JUST LOSING THEIR LEAVES TO A TINY INSECT CALLED SYCAMORE SCALE.'YOU NEED A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO SEE 'EM - BUT WHAT THEY DO TO THE LEAVES IS EASILY VISIBLE AND THEY MAKE THE TREES LOOK POSITIVELY ILL. 'Honestly I never thought about it - ha ha - but it does look like it's dying - it does look pretty bad.''I didn't know if it was the sun - I didn't know what it was - the heat - the sun - not enough water - I did not know. SCALE - STOMACOCCUS PLATANI - IS A VICOUS CHOW-HOUND AND A DEDICATED SEX FIEND - THE FEMALES LAY UP TO A HUNDRED EGGS. ' The insects will definitely come back next year because they're gonna feed for awhile and then they're gonna law eggs on the back of this leaf or in the stem and in the fall the leaf drops and they're right there again - they're right on the stem - they're right on the ground - and next year they're gonna come right back - that's the trouble with these types of insects.' IT'S WORSE THAN USUAL THIS YEAR - TREE EXPERTS SAY PEOPLE ARE WATERING LESS - TREES GET STRESSED-OUT IN THE HEAT - MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER INSECT INVASIONS. 'THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO HELP YOUR SYCAMORE RIGHT NOW - BUT NEXT SPRING WHEN THE LEAVES START TO BUD YOU CAN SPRAY WITH HORTICULTURAL OIL - AND TAKE PLEASURE IN THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THE LITTLE SCALE-MEISTERS ARE SUFFOCATING - DOWNTOWN AT PARK AND TWELFTH -
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