Durbanville residents have been urged to inspect the trees on their properties for symptoms of the invasive Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer beetle (PSHB) and contact the City immediately should any of these be visible.
The City confirmed that samples taken from a Boxelder and Sweet Viburnum tree on a private property in Durbanville tested positive for the PSHB.
Several other trees including English Oak, Liquid Amber and Chinese Cottonwood on the same property and the neighbouring property have also been found to have PSHB symptoms.
“At this point, we cannot confirm the number of infested trees in the Durbanville area as a whole as surveys are currently under way,” said Deputy Mayor and Mayco Member for Spatial Planning and Environment Eddie Andrews.
“I am urging all private land owners in Durbanville to urgently inspect the trees on their properties for symptoms and to contact us immediately should any of these be visible on any trees.
“The City also needs access to private properties to conduct a full assessment to determine the extent of the infestation in and around Durbanville. I therefore ask residents please to give the teams access to their properties so that we can determine the extent of the PSHB infestation. We are extremely concerned about the latest sighting and request the assistance and cooperation of residents and businesses that work with plant material,” said Andrews.
The City said it would communicate information on a community training session for Durbanville residents once details have been confirmed.
Symptoms of infested trees include branch dieback with cracks on the branch; discoloured leaves; dry and leafless branches; branch break-off revealing webs of galleries filled with black fungus.
Residents should also look out for gumming - blobs of goo coming out of the bark; oozing of liquid and gum from the beetle holes, as well as very small entry and exit holes on the bark of the tree, the size of a sesame seed (2mm), and brown or dark stains on the bark of the tree.
Infested trees must be chipped on site and may not be removed from the property.
To date, 26 trees have been infested in Penhill, Eerste River, among which Boxelders, London Planes, English Oaks, Beef Wood, Weeping Willow, Cape Chestnut, Black Locust, Paperbark and Maples.
Over 400 sightings of infested trees have been recorded in Newlands, Rondebosch, Mowbray, Claremont, Kenilworth, and Observatory along the Liesbeek River.
Report PSHB beetle sightings online, at www.capetown.gov.za/InvasiveSpecies, call the City’s Invasive Species Unit on 021 444 2357, Monday to Friday, from 7:30am to 4pm, or email [email protected]
Cape Times