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Good day folks, so happy I found this forum. My very huge stag horn has a bunch of small little black moths all over it, is this a problem or part of the ecosystem. Also wondering why some of the leaves are brown and withered and have a strange brown furry substance on them? Thanks in advance for your help...
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @NatCatTat. It's sensational to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about Staghorn care.
Those are Scolypopa Australis, commonly known as passionvine hopper. No, I did not know that off the top of my head, and yes, it did take me 30 minutes of searching Google to find that information. They are an Australian native insect pest that can cause great damage to a wide variety of edible and non-edible plants. Populations can skyrocket quickly and, if left uncontrolled, can affect plant health, vigour and fruiting, with heavy infestations resulting in plant death. Here's a guide from Yates on how to control them. It's recommended to use Yates 50ml Baythroid Advanced Insect Killer For Gardens.
The brown furry substance is the plant's spores and nothing to worry about. From your second image, the plant appears quite healthy. The blackened leaf sections could be due to sun damage and not a sooty mould, which is sometimes associated with these moths. It might be worth keeping some 50% shade cloth on hand and draping it over the plant if you expect an exceptionally hot day where the plant will be in direct sunlight.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
