Another Eucalypt leaf - this one has been attacked by a leaf scale. These are so annoying - they damage the plant and encourage ants which feed on the sugary material that the scale gives off. This material also encourages the spread of horrible black fungi which further damages the leaf. Some plants are so infested that they die. White Oil spray can help.
I'm sorry Rob, a few questions!! So are the blobs the leaf scale? is it a bug because they look like it but the name suggests a disease. Strange how it's running along the centre vein of the leaf too. Do these harm the Koala at all?
@suzanne234 Hi Suzanne - it's really nice that you are so interested. The blobs are the scale and they are bugs. They are along the veins because they actually feed on the sap from the tree and then exude the sugary white coating you can see on the leaf. The ants eat this sugary goo - we say that the ants actually "farm" the scale! But having just said that I don't know what the ants actually do to help the scale bugs!! But they are always together. I don't know if they would actually harm koalas - probably not as the scale is often on the very low branches of the tree. But it can severely damage or kill a young tree because the sugary goo feeds a horrible black fungus which then covers the leaves and makes the tree very unhealthy. All in all it is pretty horrible. Thanks so much for your interest. Cheers Rob
June 19th, 2018
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