How to stop lilly pilly being eaten by catepillars?

[Georgia24]

Hi there, I have a lilly pilly hedge that has unfortunately been severely neglected for the past year. When attempting to prune it today I noticed that the leaves had lots of tiny white dots, almost like eggs, on nearly every leaf. There are also these white scaly dots and there seems to be bugs eating it - I have had issues in the past with lilly pilly beetle infestation and I saw a few of them today.

I'm so sad that my hedge is looking like this - how can I revive it?

Thank you in advance.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Georgia24. It's terrific to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about Lilly pilly care

It sounds like your lilly pilly hedge is facing a caterpillar infestation, which can cause significant damage to the leaves. The first step is to identify the type of caterpillars affecting your plants, as common culprits include lilly pilly beetle larvae, which resemble green caterpillars. If the infestation is not too severe, you can manually remove the caterpillars by handpicking them off the leaves. Wearing gloves can protect your hands, and you can place the caterpillars in a container filled with soapy water for disposal. 

At present, there is no chemical control for these pests. Lilly Pilly Beetles and their larvae need to be manually removed and squashed. Alternatively, place a bucket of soapy water under the leaves and give the tree or branches a vigorous shake to encourage Lilly Pilly Beetles and larvae to drop into the bucket of soapy water.

Regular monitoring and maintenance will help prevent future infestations, allowing your lilly pilly hedge to recover and thrive.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[Georgia24]

Thank you very much for your response Mitchell. Would this explain all the white dots/patches? I have seen lilly pilly beetles before but never the white spots.

[MitchellMc]

I'm not entirely sure what that might be, @Georgia24.

Let me tag our horticultural expert @Noelle to see if she has any thoughts.

Mitchell

[Noelle]

Hi @Georgia24 

The white patches almost look like the leaf tissue has died because a pest of some sort is sucking the sap by piercing the leaf surface. This damage is not something I have ever seen on lilly pillies before so it's a bit of a guessing game.

You've mentioned the trees have been a little neglected in recent times so it could be any one of a number of pests. It does not look like disease in my opinion.

A spray of ecoOil over the foliage may be beneficial - it won't control the lilly pilly leaf beetle or its caterpillars but could get rid of any other pests the trees may have. It certainly won't harm the trees.