Black flies on bay Laurel

Gillian Searson asked 16 years ago

Hi Gerry, I have two bay trees in pots in the garden. About 5 ft tall and have them for 4 years. In the last week one of them is completly covered in small black flies (1-2cm long), nothing on the other tree. They seem to be eating the centre / side of some leaves. The other tree has no flies but some leaves are yellowed, curled and stuck together with sort of cobweb in the centre when pulled apart. I’m totally confused between psyllids, suckers etc so not sure if I just spray them or need to remove all damaged leaves and then spray? Many thanks

1 Answers

Gerry Daly Staff answered 7 years ago
Black flies may just be using the tree as a resting place and are not eating anything. They will probably vanish one day.  Flies, if they are flies, do not eat leaves.

The stuck-together leaves might indicate tortix moth caterpillars, probably now departed. The damage from these caterpillars is very slight and not worth doing anything about.

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