Symptoms of attack and nature of damage
- Infests green succulent branches.
- Young plants - main stem may be attacked.
- Presence of shot hole
- Initial symptom - drooping of leaves
- Withered (faster in young branches and delayed in older twigs) or dried branches
- Attacked Leaves fall and prematurely
- Terminal leaves wilt, droop and dry up.
- Severe infestation - loss of considerable number of productive branches.
Identification of the pest
- Adult - brown to black with a short, sub cylindrical body and covered with fine hairs.
- Females are darker and larger (1.5 to 1.8 mm)
- Males are dull and small (0.8 to 1.0 mm)
Management
- Insecticide applications do not provide for shot hole borer control.
- Grub entered into twig and make tunneling – Ambrosia fungus developed from the tunneling. Female lays eggs on the tunneling
- After egg hatching, the white milky larvae feed on the ambrosia fungus
- Prune the affected twigs 2 to 3 inches beyond the shot-hole and burn (September)
- Remove and destroy all the unwanted/infested suckers during summer (avoid breeding).
- Maintain thin shade and good drainage.
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