Tiny Black Bugs on Apple and Cherry Trees

wolfie · Fri Jul 25, 2008 1:22 pm

Has anyone had tiny black bugs on their leaves of their apple or cherry trees? They don't move much and I notice them there early morning, like a group of them. They almost look like poop but there are several groups on several leaves and when I shake the branch they go away. thanks!

Kisal · Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:48 am

I can't possibly come up with an ID that would be even remotely accurate without seeing a picture of the "bugs." Still, my curiosity has the better of me. So, do these critters just fall off, or do they fly away when you shake the branch? How tiny are they? Is there any evidence of damage to the leaves? Any further information you can offer?

wolfie · Sat Jul 26, 2008 9:37 am

They are tiny and do not fly, they just fall off when I shake the branch. I don't see any damage on the leaves they are on, but the leaves in general have been chewed.

I am wondering if they are larvae of an aphid? If you look at a pic of that, it closely resembles what I am seeing.

Thanks for your help!

Kisal · Sat Jul 26, 2008 2:20 pm

I've certainly seen a lot of aphids over the years, but I've never seen them on my apple or cherry trees. That doesn't mean they wouldn't feed there, however, if the situation suited them. Aphids are sucking insects, however, and would not be the cause of "chewed" leaves. It sounds more like caterpillar/worm damage to me. This may sound a bit silly, but the black spots may just be "caterpillar poop."

Have you examined the tree at night? Go out with a flashlight and examine the leaves on your trees. See what you can find. Come back and let us know.

Fruit trees are often attacked by various types of moths. Coddling moths (aka "apple maggots") are a common problem on apple trees. I know cherry trees have a particular maggot that can infest them, too.

Anyway, that's my best guess. I'm sure Lorax or someone else with more knowledge than I will be able to offer better suggestions for you!

outoftwnr2 · Sun Aug 10, 2008 1:44 pm

Help!! my bing cherry tree has aphid like black bugs that suck the leaves until they wrinkle and are ugly. I tried to wash them with the hose and that helps a little, but then another problem seemed to show up... large wood type army black ants.. they seem to secrete (sry misspell) a substance that the little black bugs like and I can't seem to get rid of the ants either. the process of these little creatures are killing my bing and I notices this year they are moving to my other cherry tree. helpful advice to preparing to stop this process would be helpful, since the bing cherries are a lot better then the pie cherries

Kisal · Sun Aug 10, 2008 2:48 pm

outoftwnr2 wrote:Help!! my bing cherry tree has aphid like black bugs that suck the leaves until they wrinkle and are ugly. I tried to wash them with the hose and that helps a little, but then another problem seemed to show up... large wood type army black ants.. they seem to secrete (sry misspell) a substance that the little black bugs like and I can't seem to get rid of the ants either. the process of these little creatures are killing my bing and I notices this year they are moving to my other cherry tree. helpful advice to preparing to stop this process would be helpful, since the bing cherries are a lot better then the pie cherries

The ants may be "farming" the aphids. Some species of ants keep aphids much as humans keep cattle. They protect them from predators, move them from one place to another on a plant to ensure that they have plenty of food, etc. Why do ants do this? Their payoff is the sticky "honeydew" which the aphids excrete. The ants stroke the aphids to get them to excrete the honeydew, which the ants use as food.

Ladybirds will control the aphids, although it may take them awhile to get a large infestation contained. However, the ants will kill the ladybird larva in order to protect their aphids. You may have to do something to control the ants before you can control the aphids.

1Soccer3 · Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:26 am

I have a large cherry tree in my front yard and it seems to have tiny black bugs on the bottom of alot of leaves. The leaves that have those bugs get all crumbled up and on some I saw a tiny caterpillar.
I am not a gardener and have no idea what this is and what to do about it.
Any help? Thanks

Nick L. · Tue Jun 30, 2009 4:37 pm

They could be plum curculio if they're 1/4in long beetles with a curved snout. If they are them you can get a cover on the ground below the tree and shake them off.

Pebbles · Wed Jul 01, 2009 5:17 am

I have a large cherry tree too. Every year it gets black bugs on some of the leaves. The leaves then curl up and the bugs are inside. Over here in England they are called 'Black-fly'. The only way to get rid of them here is to spray the tree with an insect killer spray.

I know many of you do not like to use these sprays but it is the only way to really get rid of them here.

I use a spray called Diphane if anybody has heard of it.

If you don't get rid of these 'black-fly' eventually your cherries will have black spots on them and then they will be inedible.

Best of luck.

Gary350 · Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:39 pm

I buy some stuff at Farmers Co-op called, Fruit Tree Spray. You connect your garden hose to the bottle, turn on the water, flop the lever on top of the bottle and it sprays a stream of water like a fire hose 25 feet long. I spray my apple tree 1 time every week. It takes a whole 30 seconds to spray 1 tree. The bottle of spray lasts all summer. The saleman at Farmers Co-op said, it helps the fruit get ripe and it keeps on bugs, worms, butterflies. They probably sell this stuff at Lowe's and Home Depot. In the past I had trouble with the apples not gettng ripe so I gave it a try. I don't see any bugs either.