Identification

• Popillia japonica, Japanese beetles, are approximately 3/8 inch long; they have metallic-green bodies and copper-colored wings. The Crysobothris femorata apple tree borer is the larvae of a 1/2-inch long beetle. Adult borers have oval-shaped, slightly flattened greenish-bronzed bodies. Other pest species include leafrollers, mites, aphids and scale, among others.
  
  

Effects

• Japanese beetles feed on the tender tissue between leaf veins, giving leaves a lacy or skeletonized appearance, according to the Clemson University Extension. Apple tree borers are commonly called flatheaded borers. They bore cavities into the trunks and large branches and kill trees by girdling or eating the tissue under the bark, all the way around the tree. Leafrollers feed on both the fruit and the leaves, while mites, aphids and scale insects suck plant fluids.
  
  

Prevention/Solution

• Spray crabapple trees with an appropriate insecticide to eradicate Japanese beetles, mites and appletree borers. Treat leafrollers with biological insecticides such as Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium that sickens certain insects. Prune out aphid infestations or dislodge them from the tree with a forceful stream of running water. Control scale insects with horticultural oils.