Ounce of prevention...I use straw mulch to keep down weeds and hold in moisture. My climate is midwest USA...wet spring & fall, dry spell in between. I have lots of ivy on the north shady side of my house. I also have a lot of trees (maples) that attract leaf borer bugs. These are the ones the come out during the day and attach to the walls of your house to absorb the sun & heat. They go into the ground at night. Being borers they are immune to every pesticide. The only way to get rid of them is to clear a 2 foot area around your house and apply black plastic mulch. this deprives the bugs of their preferred nesting ground.

 

Hi grammaDarla, Welcome to the DIY Garden Forum

I am still not sure what you refer to as a leaf borer. Is it a worm or beetle? What kind of damage does it do to the plants?

So the black plastic mulch keeps them from going to ground, thus controling them. Would you do a search on http://www.google.com for this leaf borer & post a link with some info about this bug for us?

It's just possable that someone, may have a remedy to control this pest.

Marturo

 

The name of this bug is BOX ELDER BUG. I have done searches and gotten a lot of hits, I have yet to see any solution to the problem. A lot of perticides have this bug listed as being treatable with their product, but I have tried them all and nothing worked. I talked with my local University entomologist and he told me they coundn't be killed. He sent me a printed article about the life cycle of the bug. Since they bore into young leaves after hatching to suck the moisture, they do not eat leaves, so topical pesticides don't work. Only the newly hatched bugs feed. The adults do not feed, just lay eggs and die. They have a hard shell, are black with red side & wing strips and 1/2" long as adults. They come out of the ground when it warms, to settle on the side of buildings in the sun to absorb heat. They can get into your house and live all year. Or overwinter in the soil. The idea of clearing a 2 foot area around my house was an idea I tried because I was desperate. That was last spring. The bugs did't die, they just left my area for a more comfortable environment. they hav not returned.
many thanks
grammaDarla

 

Box elder Bugs..damage to plants; they like young leaves of plants, they poked so many holes in my lilac bush that it died. the worst problem is that there were hundreds of them. crawling around all over the yard, flying into my hair, crawling on my legs, arms, clothes, and the fear of having them live in my house was driving me to find a cure, or sell my house and move. I also had a problem with moles, digging up my yard and me stepping into the holes and tripping me into falling down a lot. I tried the usual 'cures' ; castor oil, chewing gum, harpoons, to no avail. I finally found a web site that was selling "milky spore disease". This is a spore that infects the grub on the Japanese beetle, which is what the moles feed on. The moles did not die, but their food supply (grubs) did. The moles moved away for 4 years, but came back this spring. I thought they might because I had noticed a growing population of grubs in my garden this spring. so, I ordered more "milky spore".
grammaDarla

 

This bug is just that, a bug! Nasty little things that people spray WD-40 on window sills and soapy water on outside walls etc.

I read where it's natural enemy is a fungus, but how do you get it into the bug is unknown.

Box Elders and Maples seem to draw them & they seem to learn very fast how to deal with common pesticides Sevin etc.

I can check into Pheramone traps & some other possabile things to try with unconventional treatments.

Everything has a repelant or an enemy, the trick is to find them.

This is one bad bug that seems to be spreading, it would be good to look this one up & keep an eye out for them.

Marturo