Are you seeing cars, sidewalks, driveways, or other plants covered in sticky stuff, especially those under trees? This sticky substance, called honeydew, is produced by certain insects that excrete it when they feed on plants. Plant leaves look shiny and honeydew may be so thick that it drips off the leaves onto the ground or other plants underneath. And in some cases, a black, powdery fungus called sooty mold grows on it, causing the plant's leaves to look dirty.
We've written about quite a few of the insects that produce honeydew in our blog, so here is a list of the possible culprits that may be causing the mess this time of year:
Aphids
The hackberry woolly aphid is a major pest on
If your neighborhood has Chinese hackberry trees, chances are you've noticed a sticky substance on cars, parking lots and sidewalks. The sticky substance is called honeydew, and might be caused by a pest called the hackberry woolly aphid.
Hackberry woolly aphids appear as fuzzy, bluish white masses on leaves and other tree parts and are about 1/10 of an inch or less in diameter. Not all the aphids have wings, but those that do have distinct black borders along the forewing veins and their antennae have alternating dark and light bands. As the aphids suck out plant juices, they excrete the sticky honeydew. Sometimes blackish sooty mold grows on the honeydew and creates a sticky mess on leaves and surfaces beneath infested...