Boxwood Leafminer Fact Sheet

This is the most serious insect pest that attacks boxwood.

Boxwood leafminer fact sheet.

We have seen severe leafminer populations kill boxwood. New leaves do not show signs of mining until late summer when the larvae are larger. The infested leaves appear blistered from late summer through the following spring. The leafminer is the larva immature form of a small orangish mosquito like fly.

Blistering is most apparent on the undersides of the leaves and becomes most obvious late in the. The adult fly dies soon after. Common boxwood buxus sempervirens symptoms. Infested leaves are spotted yellow and may drop prematurely.

The good news about the boxwood leafminer is there are effective control options. Adult flies swarm around boxwoods about the time that the weigelas bloom. Mines are not evident for several weeks. These flies are less than inch long and can often be seen swarming around boxwoods in the spring.

Boxwood leafminer is the most destructive insect pest of boxwood. The adult leafminer is a yellow to orange red fly that looks like a mosquito. This feeding results in blotch shaped mines in the boxwood leaves. Conspicuous egg punctures in leaves.

Boxwood leafminer monarthropalpus flavus. The boxwood leafminer continues to be the primary pest we deal with in boxwood. Boxwood leafminer presence is indicated by blistering or irregularly shaped swellings on the leaves. When the boxwood s new growth appears in spring the females mate then insert their eggs into the underside of the leaves.