I need some help identifying the cause of leaf damage on some citrus trees (Ponderosa and Meyer Lemon, Key Lime) that I purchased from a nursery in SC a few months ago. The worst damage seems to be on the Ponderosa but it is still budding and setting new fruit. The leaves on the Ponderosa that are damaged seem very dry and curled.

Here are a few pics...

Is this a leaf miner?

white cotton-like substance?



Thank You.

The white cottony-looking thing is a mealybug. If there are only a few you can kill them manually (squish them). Sometimes they will live on the stem under leaf litter or loose dirt, so be sure to look there too.

The last photo looks like the damage of a chewing insect such as a grasshopper/katydid, or a caterpillar. You can probably find the perpetrator if you look carefully.

I don't think the first pic is a leaf miner, but only because it isn't doing any mining action. I don't know what they look like when they aren't mining. Sorry!

In the second picture it looks like there is also an infestation of scale on the two leaves shown, near the bottom middle of the leaf blades on both sides of the center vein. - Millet (1,255-)

First photo is nothing but a dead mosquito.

Second photo is mealybug.

Third photo looks like damage from a snail or slug. Take a look at night when they come up out of the soil.

Thank you for the responses. Now I know what to search for on the forum to learn how to deal with these pests. And Thank you for taking the time to help "noobs" such as myself by sharing your knowledge.


- JohnSr