Insects of the Burning Bush

Named for its fabulous, bright red fall foliage, burning bush (Euonymus alatus) is an excellent choice for low-maintenance landscapes. It maintains a neat, rounded shape with little pruning, although it tolerates hard pruning if you want to keep it smaller than its usual 20-foot height and width. Hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 9, burning bush grows in most soils and light exposures, but the fall color is more pronounced on shrubs that grow in full sun. Although it is a shrub with limited demands, burning bush is susceptible to a few insect predators.

Armored Scale

Armored scales are tiny insects less than 1/8 inch in diameter and covered with hard shells. Since they rarely move, they may appear to be a lump or growth on the plant rather than an insect. In severe infestations, leaves wilt, turn yellow and may be distorted. They sometimes drop from the shrub prematurely. Scales have many natural enemies; you should avoid using broad-spectrum insecticides, which are more likely to kill the beneficial insects than the scales. Instead, remove heavily infested twigs and branches and apply insecticidal soap for light infestations. Carefully timed treatment with horticultural oils is also effective. Use yellow sticky traps to detect the scales when they are in the immature crawling phase and spray the plant thoroughly with horticultural oil as soon as they are detected. Avoid products labeled dormant oil and choose those labeled superior, supreme or narrow-range oils instead.


Tiny, pear-shaped aphids are often found clustered near the base of a leaf where it attaches to the stem. They vary in color depending upon the species and may have a waxy or wooly secretion covering their bodies. Like scales, they have a number of natural insect predators, and if possible, it's best to let their natural enemies keep them in check. Symptoms include withered, yellow and distorted leaves. Aphids secrete a sticky substance called honeydew that quickly becomes infested with sooty mold, resulting in unsightly black spots on the leaves. Use insecticidal soap, neem oil or narrow-range oil to temporarily control aphids. Spray these insecticides over the entire plant, covering the tops and undersides of leaves. Aphids don't usually cause long-term damage to burning bush shrubs.

Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter

Glassy-winged sharpshooters don't cause serious damage to burning bush shrubs, but they leave unsightly deposits of liquid that turns white when it dries on the leaves. The real danger from this pest is the Xylella fastidiosa bacteria that they carry. Although this bacterium doesn't cause disease in burning bushes, it spreads to plants in the surrounding area and can devastate several varieties of trees, including many fruit trees, as well as grapes. Report sightings of this insect to the agricultural commissioner's office. If a program is not yet in place in your area, the agricultural commissioner's office will start a control program that may include the release of natural predators and the use of insecticides. Cultural control methods and insecticides that are available to home gardeners are not effective against these insects, which were inadvertently introduced to California in the early 1990s.

Black Vine Weevil

Black vine weevils feed along the edges of leaves, resulting in ragged-looking foliage. These dark-colored insects can't fly, so exclusion is a good method of control. Remove lower branches that touch the ground and trim back branches that touch other plants. Treat the trunk with a 6-inch band of sticky substance to prevent the insect from climbing. Garden centers and agricultural supply stores carry several products designed to adhere to the feet of crawling insects.

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About the Author

Jackie Carroll


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