While there are some insects that can be beneficial for your lawn, garden, and the trees and plants that are there, there are also plenty of insects that can cause a great deal of damage to your trees. Today we’re going to tell you about one of the common plant sucking insects that is considered a pest - the leaf miner.
Leaf miners feed within a leaf and produce large blotches or tunneling injuries to the leaf, according to the Colorado State University Extension. These blotches that leaf mining insects create by sucking on the leaf usually dry out and die. The injured spaces can resemble the same symptoms caused by leaf spotting fungi, but separating the blotchy area will allow for one to detect whether or not the injury was caused by a leaf miner or a fungi. An area damaged by a leaf miner will be hollowed out.
If you suspect that you may have a pest problem caused by leaf miners, or any other tree pest, it’s important to seek a professional diagnosis. A Health Care Expert from Cartwright Tree Care can correctly diagnose the pest problem and determine how to effectively control it. Contact us at 816-965-6758 for all of your tree care and maintenance needs.
Photo credit: Ext.colostate.edu