larvae INSIDE my spinach leaf??

Does anyone know what this is, this is the first larvae I have found and it is actually INSIDE my spinach leaf. I was washing some and it felt all squishy and I squeezed it and it popped. It grossed me out a lot!!

Also my spinach always have these little white things on them under the leaves, that look like long skinny eggs, usually in bunches of about 5. I just brush them off with my thumb when I am washing some to eat but does anyone know what they are? I don't think I could get a good picture, they are super tiny.

Hard to tell from the picture, but maybe you have leafminers?

http://www.planetnatural.com/site/xdpy/kb/leafminer-control.html

I googled them and that is definately what I have! those are the eggs and they burrow in and turn into larvae! now I just have to figure out how to get rid of them!?

We were just talking about them on another forum - lol... This is what I told the other poster from my personal experience with them...

It's a possibility that mature larvae overwintered in the soil and emerged in the spring. The adult fly actually injects the eggs just under the leaf surface so that when they hatch they are already "inside" the leaf and eat their way through it. If the plant is badly infested it might be a good idea to pull them and start over. However, if the plants are relatively healthy they will survive/outgrow the miners. Just keep those plants watered and fed and pick off the mined leaves...

That link I posted above also has some good info on them;o)

thanks locakelly! Do you know how long I should wait so see if they will outgrow it? I got some columbine seeds last night and planted a bunch and hopefully that will be where the miners live instead of my spinach. The lady at the garden center said I should destroy them, tons of the leaves had the eggs under them but I smooshed them off, do you think that will stop the miners from growing? I pruned back all the damaged leaves last night and I feel like the infestation was pretty bad. I read that neem oil helps but the lady at the garden center shot that down because it didn't work for her. I don't want to kill my plants I love them!

Also any ideas how to treat the soil once the crop is gone so that the miner don't overwinter in there?

I guess I better put my glasses on when I wash my spinach before eating it! LOL!

I think you should be able to tell within a week or so if it's getting worse or if they are gonna make it. You might want to plant another crop if you have the room just in case;o)

I'd just pinch off all the spinach at the ground and let it come back out.

I haven't had anything like that but the other day I noticed my cabbage was looking lacy. I began to pull the bottom leaves and kill loopers. As I got to looking, there were hundreds of little white worms about a quarter of an inch long and not much bigger than a hair. I have no idea what they were. I hand sprayed each leaf front and back all the way to the little head and it appears I got them stopped. I sure would like to know what they were because I'd never seen them before. I Goggled every cabbage pest I could find but couldn't find anything that looked like them.

This message was edited May 21, 2010 1:15 PM

Did you try asking on the Bug ID forum Jim? Those peeps are pretty sharp when it comes to bugs!

I was told to treat the soil so they don't overwinter,. any ideas how I'm supposed to do that?

Nope, didn't think of it.

Cabbage maggots....?

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/problems/protecting-your-cabbages-from-cabbage-maggot-cabbageworm-and-cabbage-moth.htm

From all I read they only attack the roots. It might be corn seed maggots which are very similar but they primarily attack the seed and roots.

I cut my spinach all the way back to the ground. I felt too creeped out to try and eat it still. Like I might accidentally eat a leaf with a worm in it! gross! I am hoping that it grows back and the critters move elsewhere.

Hi,

To prevent spinach leaf from larvae. You can use a neem-based spray in severe cases