On 01/08/2010 16:59, Bob Hobden wrote:


"Charlie Pridham" wrote

"Bob Hobden" wrote
Only reading a couple of months back that this imported pest has just
arrived in the UK and guess what, our wisteria has it. Noticed whilst
giving it a summer tidy up, lots of large dark brown scales.
I'll have to look up what has to be done, I think from memory it's a
reportable pest. :-(


How an earth has it managed to get itself established on yours so
quickly? I didn't think they had a flying stage in their life cycle.

Luck I guess, you are correct, they don't have a flying stage, but get
transferred by contact, birds, ants etc. I'll take a branch down to RHS
Wisley for a positive ID as there are a couple of other scale that
attack wisteria, however these are large, round, hemispherical and very
dark. Much bigger and a different shape and colour to the normal ones we
get on the citrus and camellias.
If it is, I'm trying to imagine spraying the whole front of the house
with a systemic insecticide.



Surely a systemic insecticide will, as it suggests, spread into the
plant's sap system on its own? I had always thought so. It's contact
insecticides that need more thorough application. I hope this is right,
for your sake; it makes your job a lot easier :~).

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay