Help me in identifying these weird pests on my lemon plant
- Thread starter lsardana
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It looks like a bad case of Photoshop to me.
Could you go in closer and take a few tight macro shots from different angles?
These are all the pics I was able to click during the day. After that I sprayed the plant with neem oil solution. I can update you about the further status tomorrow morning.
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Even tighter, I want a close-up of a single one of those squiggly things on top of the leaf.
Sounds good.
If this is real, they look like eggs, not frass (poop). I would remove the leaf and put it in a jar with air holes. if they hatch into more 'insects' or whatever, take some sharp close-up macro pics. Those things on top of the leaf did not seem to have legs in the right number or position to be insects, or any other type of arthropod either.
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With some imagination, I could say that some of those shapes on the upper leaf look like they might each have a green abdomen, no wings and a long thorax similar to a snakefly (Raphidioptera), but the twisted and odd-numbered things that could be legs don't look right at all.
The eggs are odd too. I have seen insect eggs laid in rows on leaves, but never ones quite like that. Frankly, they look like chocolate chips.
The eggs are odd too. I have seen insect eggs laid in rows on leaves, but never ones quite like that. Frankly, they look like chocolate chips.
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Not being from India I cannot say with 100% certainty the exact name of what you are showing. In the first picture it shows a row of eggs which are from a type of leaf footed insect. The insects shown appear to be an instar of a parasitic wasp. The eggs are bad, the insects are good. Overall, I would not worry about the eggs or the insects as you have probably killed both with the Neem. However, you do have a serious problem with the nutrition of your plant. It is severely lacking in magnesium and/or manganese and probably nitrogen as well as evidenced by the green veins and yellow leaves shown in all of the pictures. This will greatly affect the production of your plant.
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Those squiggles on the leaf are inconsistently shaped, with forms that do not even resemble anatomical structures.
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I can see head, thorax, abdomen and legs. All are the same. Check out Pelecinid Wasp. I couldn't find images from Indian species but the American species is strikingly similar to the 0P images.
I don't see a close resemblance. I don't even see anything that looks like wings or antennae. if the OP can post some unambiguously close up and clear shots then I will take another look.
Thanks for sharing the info. I am a newbee gardener. Can you suggest some tips to take care of my lemon plant. Any recommendation for the fertilizers to use.
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I don't know what is available in India. The main thing you need at this time are micro-nutrients. There are 7 micro-nutrients that are essential for good plant growth. These are copper, zinc, iron, manganese, chlorine, boron, and molybdenum. The most reliable natural source for these are liquid seaweed and liquid kelp. Another excellent source is Chelated Iron but this product usually has some manmade ingredients and is not rated as organic. Then there are the macro-nutrients or NPK, which your normal regular fertilizer provides. These are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. I am strictly an organic gardener. I do not use any synthetic fertilizers. If I knew what is available in India I could advise but not knowing this I can't.
What your plant needs at this time is iron, manganese and probably nitrogen and magnesium. I would fertilize with a good NPK fertilizer and apply the micronutrients as directed until the leaves of the plant return to its normal green color and then periodically fertilize.
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I was using the seaweed concentrate for around a year. But accidentally, 3 months back I happened to kill few of my plant by overuse of it. Not sure if it was overuse or I didn't maintain the concentrate at right temperature. But it killed my few plants. So I am little cautious about using fertilisers then onwards.
I was using this one: https://www.amazon.in/OrganicDews-Liquid-Seaweed-Extract-Measuring/dp/B00VASGL7W/
What do you suggest? Should I start reusing the seaweed extract or should I go with other organic options like a Vermi Compost.
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Your plants MUST be fed. Liquid seaweed did not kill your plants, something else did. Perhaps if you poured an entire bottle onto a plant it might do something but Liquid seaweed is NOT a fertilizer. It is a soil amendment. Using too much synthetic fertilizer can kill a plant. By using organic fertilizers it is difficult to even damage a plant much less kill it. Not feeding your plant stresses the plant and invites all kinds of harmful things to attack it. From disease to insects, all will find your plant and the plant will be susceptible to whatever damage they can do as the plant does not have enough resistance to fight off whatever it is. You mentioned vermi compost. That is an excellent product but it does not have sufficient NPK to sustain good growth. What it does have is a LOT of beneficial soil microbes. These microbes are what breaks down the organic matter and fertilizer in the soil on a molecular level thus enabling the plant to uptake what nutrients there is in the soil.