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Can anyone identify this apple pest?

moogies
14 years ago

I posted earlier about one of my newly planted Sundance apples having stunted leaves and a few spider webs.

I checked again today - and even after watering for an hour yesterday evening, the leaves were curled. I opened one of the leaves and found some kind of bug.

Here's the first one - both trees were planted at the same time:

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Here's the second one:

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And here's a close-up of the leaf:

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Does anyone know what this is - or how it can be treated?

I have Bayer Tree & Shrub Protect & Feed - says it's safe for fruit trees. I would appreciate any feedback you might have about it.

Kathi

Comments (5)

  • jean001
    14 years ago

    Can't see the needed details. But judging by the size, also what's common on aphid, it's most likely aphids.

    Because they're rolled inside the leaf, sprays won't work. But know that this is typically an early season thing that goes way on its own.

    Next year, keep an eye on things, and blast off with water at the first indication.

  • myk1
    14 years ago

    The first picture looks normal. Maybe a little light on water but nothing to worry about.
    The second picture has problems.

    The web on the last picture and the direction the leaves are folded tells me it's leaf roller.
    http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7473.html

    Leafhoppers curl the leaves the other way here.
    http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef215.asp

    I don't think rosy aphid because while I have plenty they don't ever cause enough damage to worry about on their own. The leaves grow faster than the aphids can damage so they continue to move onto younger leaves.
    The easy way to check for aphids is to look, and you would've seen them when you were taking those pictures.
    When aphids go unchecked long enough and can work fast enough they tend to curl the leaves the same way as the leafhoppers because both work on the underside.

    To find the leaf roller you have to keep unfolding leaves. And sometimes they hide in leaf bunches so young it's hard to get to them. Because they're hidden inside the leaves it's hard to get them with sprays.

  • bcreighton7
    14 years ago

    The white makes it look possibly like white wooly aphids, a common apple pest, but too hard to tell. Whatever the pest, the first thing to try would be to spray with supreme oil (not dormant oil) and can mix in a little sevin or malathion.

  • fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
    14 years ago

    I don't see any pest. It's not aphids, leaf rollers, leaf hoppers, or spider mites. The tree with the small leaves is typical of a newly planted tree that wasn't pruned enough at planting. Now it has too many growing points and not enough roots to support them. This should cure itself next yr when root growth catches up to the amount of top. But the tree still needs to be properly pruned next spring.

    The Fruitnut

  • jean001
    14 years ago

    Woolly apple aphids specialize on roots and stems, not leaves.

    Regular type aphids specialize on leaves and, hereabouts, aphids can turn early season apple leaves into a crinkled mess. (I still say aphids are likely to be the specks/spots in the 3rd image.)

    Leafrollers produce obvious webbing which holds the leaf (or leaves) in a roll. (I don't see any such webbing.)

    The 2nd image shows serious problem on the entire branch. The leaf edges are dried. And the leaves are far behind in the development. So, what's going on lower on the branch? Or perhaps it's a young tree with as yet small root system.