"For now we are young let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing we can see" Neutral Milk Hotel.

Wednesday, 21 January 2015

An unhealthy holly!

I have a holly bush tucked away in a corner of my garden. The holly doesn't get much light or nutrients and as a result it seems to be prone to pests as I discovered when I reached it on my pruning rounds today.  A few of the leaves had "mines" being made by the leaf miner fly Phytomyza ilicis.  However, many more leaves were infested with scale insects.  These live on the under-surface of the leaf.  They secret honeydew which promotes the growth of a black sooty mould.

Holly Leaf Miner Phytomyza ilicis


Scale insects on Holly with black sooty mould (Both species not named!)

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