Farfir

ok just found a family that have set up camp on a single leaf. The leaf is not even unhealthy, is right at the top of canopy and cannot even see them in the bud itself. have included a shot of the infected leaf from above and the 2 below it which appear to have a shiny clear excretion on them.

carefully chopped em off but still noticed a few bits drop off. am within 2 -3 weeks of harvest so don't want to spray anything really. are localised outbreaks like this common, was it maybe all from a pair i missed when i noticed mites first way back when they were starting to bud.

they seem fully mature, just not sure about why they are black, the large ones, or is this a final stage? there are none of the white spots on top of the leaves either where you can normally see signs that they have been feeding. in places you can see the sawdust like stuff, the same stuff i have seen on other leaves when there are mites around.

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afterburner

man those black things are wierd, I dont know what the heck those are... but the white buggers look exactly like thrips to me, You need to use a pyrithren flea bomb on those plants. The hydro shop carries the best ones. But I've had success using the ones from the store too, just make sure the ingredients has pyrithrens in it

Farfir

Ok i feel a bit ill after watching them under the microscope for a while but hope its worth posting a few images that show a bit more to help identify this little beast. the quality is not great but am sure you can get the idea of how they look.

The adult black one has 6 white legs with black tips i can see on a tear drop shaped body with 2 fine white antennae going backwards from either side of flat head. in the same image 2 younger adults can be seen, they look pretty much the same except smaller, not as fat and a few more whitish markings.

the next two images are on a blue bit of paper , one is upside down trying to get back on its feet, the other is walking about



This next image shows some of the younger ones with an older one looking after them. i will assume these are a teenage stage.


This last image is the strange one. this is the sawdust stuff i see on the tops of other leaves and around the base of an infected seeding. I don't think its mite poo but rather babies?!? maybe this is wat hatches out of the eggs? btw there are no eggs on the infected leaf.

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dontask

Looks like they have cornicles.
Aphids.

Similar looking to Giant Black Willow Aphids, not sure how host-specific they are.

You should get some Aphidoletes Aphidomyza , maybe some Ladybugs too.

If these controls fail you can nuke them with neem oil+cayenne spray.

If both those fail, go chemical.

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AxisBoldasLove

Do you see any webbing?

Make shure you torture each one individually.

dontask

P.S.

The white "things" are exuvia.

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* Anything I say is a result of complex chemical and electrical reactions occuring in my brain and should not be taken as any sort of tangible existential proof.

buzzmobile

Those are aphids. Soap spray will control them. The flaky stuff is the exoskeletons the aphids shed as they mature. Good call, dontask.
EXUVIA, I like it.

Farfir

ok so maybe not a mite but rather an aphid, hrm.

dontask, thanks for the pointers, will research those bugs and terms to check. because the buds on that plant are quite ready i will just cut off the leaves rather than spray. would be flushing it if it was not using same res as 3 others but am hoping i can just remove anything visable and survive a few weeks.

AxisBoldasLove, no webbing anywhere, even under magnification.

have not researched the exuvia yet but here is one more image of a few exuvia that were a bit larger, not moving but they do appear to be bug like.

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Farfir

Ok great, am happy they are not mites
thank you all for the helpful diagnosis.

buzzmobile, thanks, that made the penny drop, the puzzle is clear now and i can understand why the exuvia are always on the tops of leaves and around base of plant.

MrHydro

Farfir,

Sorry for your problems but I love your pictures! Great details!

Glad to see you're getting it under control.

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