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Silver Birch tree bugs

clarryukclarryuk Posts: 4
in Problem solving
Hello.  New here!

I have a roof terrace with 3 Silver Birch trees on it, in planters, which we've had there for about 4 years.  The middle one isn't looking as well as the others, with holes in a lot of the leaves.

Today, I found this green insectoid on one of the leaves, and am wondering if anyone can identify it?  

Would a spraying with Bug Clear be a good idea..?

Thanks,

Matt

Posts

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    It is a Leaf Weevil (Phylobious species) I think.  See if you can find it here:

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • clarryukclarryuk Posts: 4
    BobTheGardener said:
    It is a Leaf Weevil (Phylobious species) I think.  See if you can find it here:

    It certainly seems to be that!  Thanks Bob!

    I've just had another look and I can't see any others at all - there was just that one, so not exactly an infestation....

    Maybe a general spray with Bug Clear would help anyway, though....
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Why would you spray one bug? It’s not going to kill your tree. No wonder insect life on the planet is declining at an alarming rate. We need insects. 😭 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • clarryukclarryuk Posts: 4
    edited May 2020
    Dovefromabove said:
    Why would you spray one bug? It’s not going to kill your tree. No wonder insect life on the planet is declining at an alarming rate. We need insects. 😭 
    Yes, I get you, which is why I'm hesitant to spray it, but something is chomping away at the leaves on these trees, and I don't want them to die.

    I'm in London and we also need trees!
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Trees won’t die because insects eat a few leaves ... any more than grass dies when a rabbit eats some of it. 
    It’s all part of the balance of nature. 
    In my garden there are pigeons eating tree leaves, newts eating tadpoles, bluetits eating aphids and caterpillars feeding on nettle leaves. Neither trees, frogs,  aphids nor nettles  will die out because they form part of the diet of some creature. 

    If you had a plague of bugs I might understand you’d anxiety ... but you have one or two bugs. 

    How do you know it’s not birds eating the tree leaves?  or could  be weather damage ...  :/

    For all you know the bug you’ve found could be feeding on smaller bugs which are eating your tree leaves. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • clarryukclarryuk Posts: 4
    Indeed, which is why I'm on a forum asking for advice!
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    And the advice I’m giving is that you really don’t need to spray one insect ... it’s probably not doing any harm and it be doing some good ... insecticides do not discriminate. 

    If you want advice about why your tree isn’t doing so well then we need to know more about the tree, what it’s growing in, what the care regime is, and we need pictures of the problem. 
    😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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