Hi Susan,

Japanese beetles like linden trees. If your tree is mature and healthy no treatment is recommended. Treating your yard doesn’t help; the beetles are everywhere and will fly in for favorite food sources. Traps aren’t recommended because they attract more beetles than they kill, increasing the beetle population in your yard.

Some years the beetle population is high, other years they’re low. People on the East Coast have lived with these pests for decades. Usually beetle damage is cosmetic only.

From the University of Minnesota:

“Healthy, mature trees and shrubs can tolerate a lot of feeding without significant, long-term injury.”

See this page for complete information:

https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-insects/japanese-beetles

The first photo looks like a swamp white oak with anthracnose, a problem that surfaces in wet years.

Here’s more information:

https://extension.umn.edu/plant-diseases/anthracnose-trees-and-shrubs

If after reading about anthracnose you think it may be something else, this web site will help:

https://apps.extension.umn.edu/garden/diagnose/plant/deciduous/oak/

Hope this helps!