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Scouting Citrus for Pests - Page 18
 Citrus Leafminer
Phylllocnistis citrella
Citrus leafminer (CLM), is the larva of a tiny moth (Phyllocnistis citrella) first detected in the western hemisphere in 1993 infesting Persian limes in south Dade County. CLM probably arrived as a hitchhiker on smuggled citrus, and set a record for rapid spread by sweeping through the state in less than 6 months, south to Mexico and thence Texas within a year and throughout Central America, northern South America and the Caribbean in 2 years. Once present only in the Asian home of citrus, it now occurs in most all citrus growing regions of the world. The tiny moth becomes active at dusk, seeking young flush to lay her eggs. She most often lays a single egg on the underside of unexpanded leaves near the main vein upon which she has alighted. The tiny larva hatches
directly into the leaf, usually tunneling initially adjacent and parallel to the main vein before embarking on a zigzag path of parallel mines just under the cuticle that make efficient use of the leaf surface. A yellowish trail of excrement that dries to white follows the worm. The mine ends at the leaf margin which the mature larva folds together with silk to make the pupal cell.
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