What's eating my mauritius lychee?

Mauritius Lychee shares the same pest complex as the species. The lychee erinose mite is the dominant threat to foliage and shoot flushes. This late-maturing cultivar spends longer time on the tree, increasing exposure to fruit borer and stink bugs near harvest. Sulfur at bud burst and fruit bagging are the core controls.

Rust-brown velvety erinea on leaf undersides; distorted and stunted new flushes; reduced photosynthesis and crop set if spring flush is badly affected. Sulfur-based miticide applied at bud burst, repeated once or twice through the flush. Remove infested shoot tips. Do not transport prunings off-site.

Piercing-sucking feeding on fruitlets causes premature drop; adult feeding on shoots causes wilting and dieback of young growth. Monitor for orange egg batches on leaves in spring and destroy them; knock adults into buckets of soapy water; avoid broad-spectrum sprays that kill egg parasitoids.

Larvae bore through the pedicel into fruit near the seed; infested Mauritius fruit shows no external sign until cut open. Bag fruit clusters early with fine mesh; apply registered insecticide at fruit set; collect and dispose of dropped fruit promptly.