Infestation

in Fruit & veg
Hi,
I have noticed that some of the leaves on my apple tree have curled up and upon further inspection they are infested with eggs or something (see attached photos).
Rightly or wrongly i have cut the affected leaves off and sprayed the rest of the tree with a proprietary bug killer.
Has anyone any idea what they might be and the correct course of action to take. Many thanks in anticipation.
Regards
Keith


I have noticed that some of the leaves on my apple tree have curled up and upon further inspection they are infested with eggs or something (see attached photos).
Rightly or wrongly i have cut the affected leaves off and sprayed the rest of the tree with a proprietary bug killer.
Has anyone any idea what they might be and the correct course of action to take. Many thanks in anticipation.
Regards
Keith




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Posts
If you can encourage birds into the garden, especially near your tree[s], they will eat them, and save you having to do anything. My blue tits eat all the greenfly as soon as they appear
Regards Keith Burgess
The real point of my posting is to urge anybody to identify the problem first and then to research the best course of action. Occasionally the best plan is to use a pesticide - but often not. All insects have a lifecycle and it is very important to spray at the correct time of year to most effectively break that cycle and / or prevent damage to plants.
The worst plan of action is to spray first and then do the research. This may result in beneficial insects being killed but the 'targeted' pest not really being affected.
Many insects cause little permanent damage to the host plant (eg aphids on an apple tree) - but they do provide a food source for birds & other creatures. If they are causing too much cosmetic damage they can often be treated as per Fairy's suggestion.
Lecture over🙂 Sorry if that all came over as sounding a little pompous - but it's a subject I feel quite strongly about and I am 'surrounded' by people who are of a generation when the answer to everything was to spray anything that moved.
My children and grandchildren have held a woodlouse, marvelled at a bee, watched ants farming aphids but many do not have that opportunity. I am hopeful this is changing, but a generation is technically 70 years!
Regards
Keith