Re Sorry looking Laurel

[daltontrees]

it bacterial shothole in other bacterial canker there also some vine weevil damage around the edge of leaf but it days are numbered

Yesterday I had a really good close-up look at a Cherry Laurel with some leaves like this. Sure enough dangling from the bottom of more than one leaf was a larva. They were mostly dead, and weren't as plump as the healthy ones, but they were about the right size, colour and form for Vine Weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus). There's not many things will tackle Prunus laurocerasus because of the waxy cuticle and high Cyanide content of the leaves, but these guys seem to manage it.

 

The plant'll probably bounce back unless it is being seriously compromised in other ways. That's my guess.

[Farmer Tom]

Sure enough dangling from the bottom of more than one leaf was a larva.

 

eh? surely that can't have been vine weevil then. Their larvae feed on roots, it's the adults who chew the leaves. ...unless the leaf was touching the ground...

[daltontrees]

eh? surely that can't have been vine weevil then. Their larvae feed on roots, it's the adults who chew the leaves. ...unless the leaf was touching the ground...

 

It was at ground level. Fair enough, I didnt' ID it. It must have been some other leaf-cutter. If I get a chance to go back and look I will.