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Not sure of your location, but it looks like aphids to me. You can just put some soapy water in a spray bottle and thoroughly spray the plant - be sure to get the undersides of the leaves.
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
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I'm about 10 miles as the crow flies from your zip code. My citrus trees have been having some leaf curl also with the onset of the serious heat.
If it is only the new growth leaves, then the most likely explanation is that you have aphids or some other sap sucker. If you aren't seeing any insects on the leaves, then keep in mind that extreme heat in concert with overwatering can cause that. If you are watering every day, you may want to try just giving them a good soak once a week.
It can be really alarming to see your leaves curling like that, but the tree will usually continue to develop just fine in spite of it. Be on the lookout for giant swallowtail caterpillars. I've been finding them on my trees. They are really destructive. They look like bird poop and, if disturbed, will extend a pair of bright orange osmeteria that smell really bad. Kill on sight.
These are citrus leaf miners at work. The prevailing thought is to do nothing if the tree is mature. The leaf miners attack new foliage and is cosmetic. The new foliage will be ugly but the tree will be fine.
Thrip larvae begin feeding as soon as they hatch, sticking their sharp mouthparts into the soft inner tissue of the leaves to suck out the nutrients. As the thrips feed, the leaves become discolored and deformed, but do not fall from the tree. Healthy citrus trees usually can withstand a citrus thrip infestation and will recover from the damage.
Control
Citrus thrips can be as hard to control as they are to see. The insect has a habit of developing tolerance for various insecticides, according to "The Buzz," a University of California at Riverside Entomology Department newsletter. Pyrethroids containing cyfluthrin, fenpropathrin or spinosad may be the most effective insecticides. Follow label directions carefully for application and timing instructions. Biological controls include predacious mites (Euseius tularensis), minute pirate bugs, lacewings, dustywings and spiders. Avoid broad-level pesticides that kill beneficial insects as well as citrus thrips, as the thrip population may explode once the predators are killed.
Thank you. Regarding soapy water .. do i just use the dish soap liquid?
Also the curling on the citrus is only on the new growth leaves.
Dawn works the best. You can find recipes online.
I had a white fly infestation here recently. I vigourously shook the tree, then when the bugs took off flying I hit the whole tree with a yard fogger. Did that over several nights and killed them all for the most part.
We have the same problem with kumquat trees. I think maybe its the new leaves not reacting well with being brought up into full sunlight. I sprayed it with insecticidal soap just in case it was insects.
Definitely citrus 'thrips'. There are no leaf miner trails or discoloration from leaf miners showing on those leaves. Either way the treatments are about the same. Neem or soap treament.
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