shogro

Ok, I have these tiny white bugs attacking the top of my plants. These are NOT spider mites but instead much much smaller bugs like 1/4 or 1/8 the size of spider mites. They are on top of the leaves on the very top of every growth tip. The newest growth has stopped & looks very burnt from these bugs.

On closer examination the leaves look almost fuzzy a white/silver looking fuzz & an even closer look with a magnifying glass reveals the "fuzz" is alive & moving. These bugs look like hair, very small thin hair about 1/8 mm long at best. These bugs kill all new growth tips making them look burnt, growth fully stops & then the plant dies.

I had this exact same issue 7-8 years ago. The plants would not flower, grow or nothing. The plants new growth look burnt, very burnt, old growth looks fine & unaffected. It took months for me to finally figure out the plants were infested with these same little bugs. You can not see these bugs with the naked eye or better said you can not tell they are bugs with the naked eye. Several treatments of bug spray & dipping took care of them finally but only after killing several runs of plants. What in the world are these bugs? They love the top area of newer leaves & especially towards the leaf stem area.

Anyone??



Every white spec on this leaf is one of these bugs not just what I circled & made arrows too. This is a small leaf too not a large leaf. Make sure to look at the full size pic so you can see. I would say these bugs are the size of spider mite eggs. These really look like a mite just not a spider mite. I have also realized these bugs are on both the top side & bottom side of the leaves equally but seem to really like where all the blades come together.

buzzmobile

The only thing I can suggest is woolly aphids, but the size of the insect you describe doesn't really match. Woolly aphids are larger than spider mites. Not sure but if you have any pictures it may help to identify the critters.

Check out this link on woolly aphids.

shogro

These bugs are way to small to photograph with a typical camera & much smaller than a spider mite. I'm thinking maybe some kind of thrip? These bugs are the color & look of maybe a small young trichome stalk only smaller. These bugs in numbers could/can be mistaken for small crystals on an unhealthy leaf. If these were any smaller they would be invisible. These do more damage than any spider mite I've encountered & spider mites can do some serious damage. You can't see these bugs move with the naked eye but with a magnifying glass you can see them moving like living fuzz. (not each bug looking like fuzz but instead a bunch of them living together looks like fuzz). Almost like living coral moving in the ocean current on close inspection.

A picture of a thrip is the closest thing I can find but damn these are so small.

shogro

Closest thing I can find but my magnifying glass is not strong enough to see them this good.

Google Image Result for http://mrec.ifas.ufl.edu/lso/images/Thrips/thrips3.jpg

buzzmobile

That's the way a group of aphids will move when they are attached to the plant. It's as if they shudder in a rhythmic wavelike motion. The size of the bug doesn't indicate aphids though.

Have you tried a soap spray on them?

Thrips are visible to the naked eye and they are much larger than spider mites. Perhaps they are one of the instar phases of thrips.

Here you go, you can borrow my handy dandy Radio Shack Illuminated Pocket Microscope.

shogro

No I haven't tried anything yet because I just realized I have them. I had these same exact bugs years ago though & some treatments of typical indoor Safer insect soap did get rid of them on small plants. The older plants all died cause they were so bad. I had to dip the small plants to get in all the crevices & once they were gone the plants assumed normal growth.

With these bugs the plant will not grow at all & looks like nute burn on the newest growth but at the same time looks like a micro deficiency on the new growth like yellow from zinc, iron, sulfur, copper deficiency.

buzzmobile

Have you pulled the plant from its pot and checked the root ball? It may be root aphids, but I didn't think they would feed on leaves. I'm still brainstorming here, but it is only a drizzle at the moment.

Root aphids on container grown asters.

shogro

Ok here is the best pic I could take which does show the bug just not in detail but does show the damage they cause pretty well. Also every white spec on this leaf is one of these bugs not just what I circled & made arrows too. This is a small leaf too not a large leaf. Make sure to look at the full size pic so you can see. I would say these bugs are the size of spider mite eggs. These really look like a mite just not a spider mite.

buzzmobile

The way that leaf is gnarled and curled sure looks like the damage that aphids cause. All I could see from the enlarged photo were white specks. One sure characteristic to identify aphids is the presence of cornicles on their abdomen. Cornicles are two horn-like structures that protrude from the rear of the abdomen. It's going to take some magnification to identify them. I still lean towards some kind of aphid.

The black structures are cornicles in the picture below.



The picture shows a peach leaf with aphid damage.

shogro

Yes the leaves get very "gnarled" & while the bug might resemble an aphid it is so much smaller than a typical aphid. The white specs are exactly what I see even with a magnifying glass & the exact shape is not visible only their movement is apperant thru a magnifying glass & not all of them move only some of them. Again these are the size of a spider mite egg &/or even smaller. Some almost look like they squirm like a worm & some look like they crawl like a mite. They like the creases in the leaf once it's gnarled & almost slither thru these areas. I would estimate there are 1000's of these little things on each & every new growth tip areas leaves. It makes my skin crawl, like serious plant lice making spider mites look like a good bug, nasty nasty bugs that do alot of serious damage. They are sucking the new growth dry.