Buffalo and Western New York are home to a wide range of trees, each with its own characteristics that can make them susceptible to pests, diseases, or, worse, death. One of the big issues is how mites and pests affect them in ways that you won’t always notice at first, unless your trees are given a proper inspection. To a mite, a tree is just a place for them to find shelter and receive endless amounts of food and nutrients. A tree’s bark will be affected by that, the leaves, and the roots it stands on.
In 2026, one of Bradley Tree’s initiatives is to provide education for tree preservation and good health. Buffalo and Western New York are filled with beautiful trees, and we want to preserve them as best we can. In this blog, we will run through a guide of all the different kinds of mites that are affecting your trees in Buffalo and Western New York.
What Do Mites Do To Your Trees?
As we just said, trees to mites are EVERYTHING, but there’s a lot more to it than just what we laid out for a tree to be a source of food and shelter to a mite. These invisible pests damage trees by cutting through the bark and leaves, eating away at the structure that holds it up. Other than eating them, they will plant themselves all over to mark where they stay. This prevents trees from going through a full cycle of photosynthesis. The trees will then show weakened signs of health that you will need to address as soon as possible.
The life cycle of a mite relates to the warmer weather of spring and summer, which is why we have to tell you about this now. They wait for the right time to strike by reproducing, going through the phases of the egg, larva, nymph, and adult. In as little as 1-4 weeks, depending on the type of mite, they will have gone through your trees and reproduced at a rapid and uncontrollable pace. So let’s now talk about the different mites that affect trees in our region.
Mites That Affect Trees in Buffalo and WNY
There are a lot of different trees in Buffalo and Western New York and we want to point out what kinds of mites affect the most abundant types of trees that exist in these regions like maples trees, oak trees, spruce trees and more.
Maples Trees
A couple of the most common types of mites that affect maple trees are the maple spindle gall mite and the maple bladder gall mite. These mites create those strange-looking bumps and blisters you see on a maple tree. Now there is a slight ounce of good news with this. Thankfully, a healthy maple tree is rarely going to see serious harm done to it by these mites, even when parts of the tree look like they are damaged and unhealthy.
At the end of the day, the most common symptoms you need to be looking out for are those wart-like bumps, the elongate spindles on the leaves, and from there, you can assess the damage and see if it needs to be treated. During the spring, these mites like to feed on leaves, and by the time you get to the summer, the tree may not be in good enough condition to sustain itself, so inspect your maple trees when you can!
Oak Trees
For oak trees, the most common mite is the oak red mite (also known as the spider mite species). The way these mites work is that they suck out all the juices that leaves use to keep that green color through a process called “stippling”, and that’s why you notice leaves on trees turn yellow or brown.
Oak tree damage is a lot more cosmetic in its look than what most other mites do to another tree that’s not an oak. If the infestation of these mites was so severe that it did more than just make the tree look ugly, then the repeated stress of what they do can weaken it over time, especially during a hot weather summer where it’s super dry and the tree can’t sustain it.
Spruce Trees
The spruce spider mite is the main culprit for a spruce tree. Kind of like the spider mites that affect oak trees, for spruce trees, these mites suck out the juices from the leaves, attack the needles that the spruce tree is known for, and this causes needle drop and decline in the health of the branches.
More than the mites of an oak and maple tree, spruce spider mites are among the most serious types of tree mites on a conifer tree. Blue spruce trees get the most out of the different types of spruce. As a reminder, a conifer tree does not produce fruits or flowers but produces pine cones. Pine cone trees are very common in Buffalo and WNY in areas that are populated. Important fact to know, these mites are more productive in spring and fall with cooler weather and temperatures.
Ash Tree
Finally, the ash tree is affected by the ash flower gall mite and the ash bead gall mite. The mites will create brown or black-looking clumps on ash tree leaves. These growths have the ability to stay on the tree all the way through into the winter. Just like the oak tree spider mite, this affects appearance more than it does the health. It’s not like the emerald ash borer insect, which is what affects the health, making the mites more of a minor problem if you’re someone who cares about how their trees look.
All of this is very helpful and important information that you need to know! It’s our job at Bradley Tree to help educate you on these circumstances that mites bring to your trees. If you need any help learning more about them or need our arborists to come out and inspect, reach out through our contact form or give us a call, and we will be there to help!
Tree Mites FAQ
How can I manage and treat the mites that are damaging my trees?
Tree mites are not normally responsible for killing your trees, but they can damage them in more cosmetic ways. The exception is for spider mites that can weaken the structures. Maple trees, oak trees, spruce trees, and ash trees all work best if you manage them through the proper watering and mulching practices that you would normally do for them. You can also remove non-healthy-looking leaves and branches through tree pruning and tree trimming. Contact a local arborist if you need them to inspect the tree!