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raym
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| Joined: | Sat May 17th, 2008 |
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Posted: Sat May 17th, 2008 04:56 pm |
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I noticed this about two weeks ago. This is in a 10 tall holly hedge and the leaves are turning brown with black lines or specs and the underneath is full of tiny yellowish stuff. How do I treat this? Thanks.
Attachment: Holly_Closeup_sml.jpg (Downloaded 15 times) Last edited on Mon May 19th, 2008 01:08 am by raym
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Newt
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Posted: Sat May 17th, 2008 07:05 pm |
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Hi Ray,
It looks like whitefly. Do they fly off when you touch the branch and then return? Another possibility would be spider mites. Put a piece of paper under a branch and tap the branch. The spider mites will fall on the paper and will be little specks that move.
Newt
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raym
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 05:25 am |
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OK, I tapped on the branch and held a dark paper underneath. A lot of the small debris fell and about a half dozen small yellowish greeenish creatures were milling about. One actually hopped off the paper like a flea. They are about 1/16 inch long, maybe slighly larger, but for sure less than 1/8 inch long.
How do I treat this to kill the bugs? Thanks a million.
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Newt
Administrator
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 06:15 am |
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Ray, you are so very welcome. Unfortunately I can't tell you what to spray with until we know what it is. It would be useless to spray something and possibly cause more problems. Know thine enemy. When you mention that it jumped off I thought about a planthopper. Does it look anything like any of these?
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=flatid%20planthopper&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
Take a look at the leaf here. The pale yellowish bugs are aphids. Did they look like these?
http://ipm.ncsu.edu/photogallery/acan2.jpg
By the way, where do you live? Certain insects are more active in different regions at different times of the year depending on climate.
Newt
Last edited on Sun May 18th, 2008 06:19 am by Newt
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raym
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 01:06 pm |
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Good Morning Newt, we are in Biloxi MS on the MS gulf coast. We have a 40 foot long hedge about 9 or 10 foot tall madew of 8 fine line holly bushes. These pests are only in one bush and have discolored an area of about 2 sq feet. When I tapped or shook the limbs this morning less dropped on the paper. We tried to take a picture but they are so small that it came out fuzzy. They appear to be brownish grey rather than yellowish and smaller than I discribed earlier. I was using outside spotlights last night so they looked yellow maybe. Probably more like 1/32 inch. They fly or hop for sure in addition to crawling around. In the fuzzy picture you can see the shape and shadow. They have muscular front legs and sit at an angle to the surface with their heads higher than the tail. Any help or ore confusing? Thanks Ray
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Newt
Administrator
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 03:42 pm |
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I have looked at pictures of just about every pest known to hollies and my vision is blurred at this point. I'm thinking those white specks are the pest, possibly a mealy bug, and the bug you see is the predator. Take a look at this pirate bug, a good guy and a predator. Is this what you see? They are very tiny and you can click on the pics for a larger view.
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/NE/minute_pirate_bug.html
Newt
Last edited on Sun May 18th, 2008 03:42 pm by Newt
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raym
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 05:56 pm |
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Here is a cleaner clearer picture of the bug. Looks like a pirate to me. The dust looks like dust to me, rather than a pest, but, I am the one needing help. The infected area is growing daily so something is at work on the holly. Less and less stuff falls off the leaves as try to identify the culprits. See 2 new pics taken in sunlight just prior to noon.
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raym
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 06:05 pm |
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| Newt, I used a magnifying glass and looked at the debris on the paper. The smaller specks do not appear to have life. They look like just fiber pieces or various sizes (all real small. The bug in the picture is about 1/8 in long has folded back wings, antenna and folded back legs in the middle of the body. Just a couple of bugs this time. Thanks.
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raym
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 06:29 pm |
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| I checked one more time and came up with two really really small yellowish looking critters that were crawling around on the paper. I couldn't follow them with my magnifying glasss but they appeared to the almost circular in shape and about 1/4 the size or less of the pirate bug. They looked kinda like a really small spider. Nothing else is left to fall off the leaves when I shake them. Last edited on Mon May 19th, 2008 01:47 am by raym
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thanrose
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 10:04 pm |
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The damage and the description make me think of thrips. Even the yellow itty bitty spider like things could be explained by thrips. If you google thrips for images, you might be able to see one or two that have a yellow stage.
I also thought it possible that two different infestations are on the holly, with one being thrips and the other spider mites.
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raym
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Posted: Mon May 19th, 2008 05:29 pm |
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| Well, I just sprayed the infected area with Bayer Advanced Complete Insect Killer for Gardens. Every bug that was mentioned should be killed by this stuff. I will repeat an application in a week and hope for the best. Thanks everyone.
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Newt
Administrator
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 02:57 am |
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Ray, I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you, but between my animal rescue activities and packing to go away, I just haven't been able to give this the time it needs. 
I think the white residue could be what is left of some pest, possibly mealy bugs or scale insects. The pirate bug probably ate them and you see the remains.
I'm glad you found a spray that will work for you, but I probably would have suggested an insecticidal soap or an organic horticultural oil.
Thanrose, thank you so much for helping out here. Your suggestions and knowledge are always welcome!
I will return about the 29th of May.
Take care,
Newt
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raym
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 03:06 am |
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| Thanks, have a good trip.
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Newt
Administrator
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 03:36 am |
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Thank you sooo much.
Newt
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