Azalea Leafminer - Nursery IPM

**Azalea Leafminer (Caloptilia azaleella)**

Symptoms are often subtle and overlooked
Early instar stages are leafminers, while the later instar stages are leafrollers
2+ generations per year
Leafminer stages occur first on infested azaleas, but symptoms are usually not noticed until the later leafroller stages
When larvae reach the larger stage of development in early June or August, they leave the mines and move out to form the leafroller stages
By late June, the 1st generation adults have already emerged & begin to lay eggs
Adults insert eggs under leaf tissue near the mid-ribs
Early instars create blotch or elongated mines
Late instar stage caterpillars are ½” long, and usually only a single leafroller will feed per leaf (they create curled leaf tips with silk & continue to feed inside the leaf cover until they pupate)
Adult moths are yellowish brown and about 3/8” in size, with folded wings when they are at rest, and they stand at a 60-degree angle
In southern NJ, adults that emerge from the 2nd generation in August will lay eggs and start a partial 3rd generation, which overwinters within the leaves as larvae or pupae
Host plants: azalea (Rhododendron spp.)

Management:

Natural predators: Few
Detect early, and apply controls during the early leafminer stages in May or July
Apply controls for second generation in July
Populations of adult egg-laying moths can be estimated during the weeks of late June and early July by shaking the plants and forcing them to fly briefly

Contact insecticides:
- Avermectins [6]: Abamectin
- Spinosyns [5]: Spinosad
- Carbamates [1A]: Carbaryl
Systemic insecticides:
- Organophosphates [1B]: acephate (translaminar)
- Neonicotinoids [4A]: imidacloprid, acetamiprid
- Avermectins [6]: Abamectin
Considerations:
- Achieve controls during early leafminer stages with systemic or translaminar materials