Boxwood Leafminer Fact Sheet

Boxwood leafminer monarthropalpus flavus.

Boxwood leafminer fact sheet.

Boxwood leafminer presence is indicated by blistering or irregularly shaped swellings on the leaves. The good news about the boxwood leafminer is there are effective control options. Boxwood leafminer is the most destructive insect pest of boxwood. Infested leaves are spotted yellow and may drop prematurely.

These flies are less than inch long and can often be seen swarming around boxwoods in the spring. We have seen severe leafminer populations kill boxwood. The larvae of this fly feed on the tissue between the outer surfaces of the leaves. Blistering is most apparent on the undersides of the leaves and becomes most obvious late in the.

Over the period of several years a lightly infested plant can become discolored brown and even defoliated. This is the most serious insect pest that attacks boxwood. Common boxwood buxus sempervirens symptoms. The boxwood leafminer continues to be the primary pest we deal with in boxwood.

Adult flies swarm around boxwoods about the time that the weigelas bloom. The adult fly dies soon after. Oval water soaked swellings on the lower leaf surface evident from midsummer until shed. New leaves do not show signs of mining until late summer when the larvae are larger.

The leafminer is the larva immature form of a small orangish mosquito like fly. Mines are not evident for several weeks. When the boxwood s new growth appears in spring the females mate then insert their eggs into the underside of the leaves. Conspicuous egg punctures in leaves.