Thought these might be thrips but I was reading somewhere that the tail should curl up in the back. They're black, pretty tiny and slow moving (the little bugger is in the upper middle of the leaf in the picture), and hang out on the underside of the leaf.
The leaf damage is happening on a blueberry plant, and also a few trees (I think one is a holly) on the hill (which doesn't get a whole lot of sun). Help!!
Possibly spider mites? If you hold a piece of white paper under the leaf and tap the leaf, sometimes you will see the mites.
Spider Mites would not be so visible to the naked eye....They are almost microscopic...
I would guess you have scale....but scale is usually found along the stems....NOT on the undersides of the leaves...
So--I am a bit baffled.
Can you scrape them off, easily, with your fingernail? If you can--then it may be scale...if not--I do not know....
I can tell you, though, it cannot be Spider Mites.....
BTW--What is the plant you have this issue on? It may help to know....
You live in California. I live on the east Coast....You may have problems with plants in your area that I now
nothing about....Consider my suggestions just an informed guess......
Gita
I took a sheet and checked for mites but didn't see anything.
The black dots scrape off but the white splotchy damage to the leaf remains. I also noticed a couple of yellow aphid looking things, but they didn't have long legs like aphids do. The plants are a blueberry plant and (I think) a California holly.
:( Hoping the tress don't die.
