Boxwood Pests
Contact: Eric Day, Manager, Insect Identification Laboratory
August 1996
- Boxwood Mite, Acari: Tetranychidae, Eurytetranychus buxi (Garmon)
- Boxwood Leafminer, Diptera: Cecidomyiidae, Monarthropalpus buxi
- Boxwood Psyllid, Homoptera: Psyllidae, Psylla buxi
PLANTS ATTACKED:
American and European Boxwood
DESCRIPTION OF DAMAGE:
- Boxwood Mite: Leaves of infested plants appear to be pin-pricked or scratched with tiny white or yellow marks.
- Boxwood Leafminer: Infested leaves appear blistered on the underside and are often discolored.
- Boxwood Psyllid: Their feeding on tender new growth causes leaves to cup and stunts the growth of shoots.
IDENTIFICATION:
- Boxwood Mite: One of the spider mites. Difficult to find even under a dissecting microscope. Egg shells and cast skins can be important clues but they are not as apparent as they are with other spider mites species.
- Boxwood Leafminer: A small, delicate fly. Damage is caused by
larvae which feed between the upper and lower layers of leaves.
Two to six larvae typically occur in a single leaf. With a
little practice, they are easily found by breaking open a
blistered leaf with your thumbnail.
- Boxwood Psyllid: Member of a family of insects closely related
to aphids. Adults are rarely seen. Nymphs cover themselves with
white, cotton-like secretions.
LIFE HISTORY:
- Boxwood Mite: Mites overwinter as eggs on the undersides of leaves. Eggs hatch in April or May.
- Boxwood Leafminer: Larvae overwinter within their mines. Adult
flies are evident around boxwoods in late April and early May.
- Boxwood Psyllid: Adults are active during July and early August,
but they are rarely seen. Eggs are laid between bud scales and
nymphs emerge from them in mid-to-late April. Nymphs soon cover
themselves with white, cotton-like secretions.
