If you’ve driven down a Saskatoon street and seen trees without leaves, the tree isn’t sick. City of Saskatoon Entomologist Sydney Worthy says there has been an increase in cankerworm activity.

Cankerworms do prefer maple, ash and elm trees and Worthy says right now there are two different species one of which lays eggs in early spring and another in fall but they both hatch in June. She says it is two species of moths that feed on the leaves in the caterpillar stage and are definitely impacting certain areas of the city, more commonly the older neighbourhoods such as Mayfair, Caswell Hill, and Mount Royal.

Worthy says the trees that form the big canopies provide lots of food for cankerworms when they hatch in June, but she said that cycle has pretty much come to an end and the leaves on the trees should start to revive by mid-July.

If you have trees in your neighbhourhood which appeared to have died off, and it is a privately owned tree that may pose a hazard to surrounding properties, residents can call the Property Maintenance & Safety Hotline at 306-975-2828.