JGRJR
Seedling
I have a Bucida Spinosa that I am trying to identify a problem. I have included a few photos. I acquired this tree about 2 months ago. The tree seemed to ship well with the following exceptions. There was some wiring on the tree done very poorly. It had grown into the tree quite a bit. There also were several small dead branches in the front left of the tree. There was a strong odor of horticultural oil on the tree. At the time I did not think anything of that. I would latter regret not paying attention to that hint.
The current growing conditions are under a grow light. Other tropicals of mine in similar conditions are putting out new growth. The tree immediately started to drop some leaves. This is my first Spinosa and from what I understood that is pretty normal under the stress of moving. After several weeks a branch on the left of the tree was losing leaves. That is when I noticed the webbing holding up a few of the dropped leaves. I have included a photo of a leaf suspended from a branch. I thought what the hell this tree has a spider mite infection and I missed it. I did the paper test and it was inconclusive. Then I got out my loupe and confirmed yes there were some spider mites. I started treating with some insecticidal soap and am now considering other miticidal options. I have access to Avid. I really do not want to lose this tree. That is where things stand now.
Last night I thought the one thing I had not done was look at the tree at night to see if there was any activity I had missed. I got out a flash light and looked over the tree very carefully. Out of the hole in the trunk shown in my photo comes what looks like a small reddish ant. I reached out and plucked it off the tree but lost it in the soil. I cannot be sure of the identification. This tree came from southern Florida. Is there some pest that would fit this description? I have only seen this one ant. Ants on a tree usually mean aphids or mites. Could it be something else I have missed?
