do you actually see a pest??? a bug???

looks mechanical or surface injury to me ...

i know you tried hard.. but not one is in focus ... and if you try again.. try anything other than a white background ... that might be part of the focus problem ...

how long have you had the plant????

ken

Hmmmmm, I'm not able to see the pictures. Can you try again?

I see them now. Please look up pictures of blotch leaf miner on basil to compare. Apparently, the blotch leaf miner has a real affinity for basil...questions and (good) images show up in the Herb Forum very frequently.

Let is know...one way or the other.

Tried 2 different pics,but it does look like blotch leaf miner

Here is a link that might be useful:

dont have any neem oil at the moment ,will a spray of insecticidal soap and oil work?

oh come on..

its a $2 basil

throw it away.. and go buy another ...

are you really thinking about spending $10 on remedies.. for a $2 plant???

of course.. i am making up the numbers to make my point .... if you just bought it.. you brought the bug home.. get rid of that plant now .... maybe that is why its only this basil that is affected ...

if the brood hatches.. you may end up with bigger problems ....

your name implies you are nurse ... you ought to appreciate the prevention of the greater problem.. at the sacrifice of the lesser issue ....

ken

Umm... Ken?? you make me laugh,if u are not going to be helpful please do not reply,first of all I live in the caribbean and Basil costs way more than $2 infact its hard to find the plants out here as they are no garden centers only persons who make a small living by selling plants ant they are far and few to find,ok?As you would have read I had to idea what the pest was so THANK YOU RHIZO for your help it was really helpful,and I am already discarding the leaves,the plants were from seed and they are more than one plant,so please be helpful and stop acting like u dont work for every dollar anyway,whoever has been helpful,thanks and Ken I am not a nurse its just a "username" and nursing has nothing to do with plants???? u dont have to reply,thank you

i am sorry your feel that way.. please forgive me ..

good day

ken

Though Ken 'could ' (but won't) express himself with more finesse, he makes a valid point. In SOME cases, it makes good sense to discard a plant rather than to fight a battle with a bad pest problem. I've done it myself many times.

I'm more than a little protective about my basil plants myself, so I would fight this battle myself.....as long as I felt like a I was winning the war.

I have been fighting the insect for a few months. Here are my findings. **Thank you for neem recommendation**

Treated first time with neem. Controlled existing larvae. New damage was seen 2 weeks later.

Treated with neem yesterday. Removing affected leaves and recording observations, today:

Neem seems to control hatched larvae. All larvae in leaf tissue as well as larvae that exit leaf have been observed dead. No flies seen.

Neem must penetrate thin cuticle of leaf "tunnels," and kill larvae. Eggs persist on undersides of leaves. These will probably hatch outside window of neem application's effectiveness (circa 4 days said random website...maybe this one. Directions say 2 weeks.). Assuming exisiting eggs hatch, neem must be applied more than once to fully eradicate. Will apply once every weekend and update post at monthly intervals.

Narratives are located below associated post-neem-treated, leaf picture.

Removed, affected leaves were first treated with neem.

Leaf damage characteristic of infestation (1 of 2)

Leaf damage characteristic of infestation (2 of 2)

Possible eggs (white, fuzzy grain) on removed affected leaves (1 of 4) seem to resemble patterns of damage in their number and dispersal. If eggs, they must have high viability .

Possible eggs (white, fuzzy grain) on removed affected leaves (2 of 4)

Possible eggs (white, fuzzy grain) on removed affected leaves (3 of 4)

Possible eggs (white, fuzzy grain) on removed affected leaves (4 of 4)

View of assumed "mature" larva found on outside of leaf underside. No movement. Assumed dead.

Larva extracted from leaf "tunnel." Tunnel opening immediately below dead larva. Appears dead.

View of "young" larva on index finger. Around .75x - .9x the size of rice grain. Assumed dead. Found in leaf.

Wow, excellent images! Thanks for taking the time to share for our education. You're a gem.

You're welcome. I try to contribute to forums when I have something to offer as a way of "giving back." The pictures are from an iPhone 5 using a simple (like $5) jeweler's loupe. You could call it a "hand lens" too. It provides 30x magnification, I believe; when you slip it in front of the camera lens...much like a small magnifying glass. You can see it in the first pic if you click it. Great for removing splinters.

UPDATE:

I hit them with neem again today (3 days later) since my potted plant (situated in a different location) was starting to show signs and I had extra solution in my sprayer. Still no signs of living larvae. Many dead. Continued removal of damaged leaves. I did not want to shock the plant by removing them all at once, and it took a lot of time.

I have been using ProTeKt and neem from the associated brand. Dish soap replaces the ProTeKt as an emulsifier just fine.

FINAL UPDATE:

I stopped applying neem after my last update. My plants recovered from the pests. I still have infected leaves here and there, but I remove them when I see them. I believe the neem in conjunction with removal of the infected leaves did the job. Prevention by not letting the infestation get out of control seems to be the best medicine.

I found a fly with an ovopositor laying eggs today, and believe the mystery is solved. As I am not versed in the study of flies, I will leave it to someone else to research the menace. I have included a photo.

The neem must work. I sprayed today, but also became frustrated. I removed affected leaves and periodically inspected them. The larvae were very active, and it was the first time I saw living larvae. I have never seen any actively working. They appeared to be small, translucent, yellow grubs, and had veins of digested leaf much like a shrimp slated for shelling.

My previous posts detailed brown, shriveled grubs a day after treatment. Neem oil weekly for a month. Protect the meristems when removing leaves.