Garlic, onion, leek, etc growers be on the lookout for this pest. Came into the US last year in Lancaster, PA and is spreading pretty quickly from maps I have seen.
It has decimated my shallot and leek crops. Last year I had about 50% loss on my leeks, this year it’s 100%. It has done substantial damage to some varieties of garlic. The larva burrow down the leaf stalk, killing or distorting the leaves and often cause the top to collapse. Pictured below is how they look, you can see the sheath has been largely destroyed. This is Inchelium Red garlic, apparent very susceptible. Probably 60-60% of the plants died or were not harvestable. The rest looked like this.
I also have Italian Late and Duganski Purple growing. Italian Late seems somewhat susceptible, stalks collapse and are weak but the cloves/sheath are largely intact.
It’s a known pest in Europe, there are a variety of chemical controls but it seems timing is important. Labelling is not caught up to them yet, however.
Looks like the Allium leafminers found my garden.(Northampton County PA). My onions have been looking “off” the last few days and today I found a few that had the lines of white spots from the females laying their eggs. Very frustrating! Alliums were one of my last trouble free crops.
Curious how anyone else here is dealing with these buggars?
This is the third major invasive pest that has gotten it’s start in the USA via Eastern PA in last few years. First the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, then the Spotted Lantern Fly and now the Allium Leafminer. What’s next?
