Blueberry gall midge
Dasineura oxycoccana
0 host plants
Last updated
Blueberry gall midge larvae feed inside developing flower buds and shoot tips, causing them to swell, distort, and fail to open properly. You will notice abnormally swollen, discolored buds that do not develop into flowers or fruit. Damage appears in early spring as buds begin to expand. This pest reduces fruit set on affected canes.
Prune and destroy infested buds before larvae mature and drop to the soil to pupate. Maintain clean ground cover beneath bushes to reduce pupation habitat. Encourage parasitic wasps that attack larvae inside the galls. In commercial plantings, targeted insecticide applications at bud swell can reduce first-generation populations.
Quick Reference
The adult gall midge is a very small fly, about 1 to 3 mm long, and reddish. Its larvae are white to orange, very small and difficult to see with the naked eye. Larvae feed on developing shoot tips, causing distorted growth. Damage may be confused with boron deficiency or even with normal black tip stage of development. Terminal growth feeding releases apical dominance and will often cause branching and a witches-broom appearance. Bud damage at an economic level has not been observed in the...