What's eating my pale anthurium?

Anthurium pallidiflorum, the pale anthurium, is a rare strap-leaf tropical kept almost exclusively indoors. Like other anthuriums, spider mites and mealybugs are the chief threats, hiding along the elongated leaf margins. Low humidity dramatically raises mite risk. Inspect long leaves thoroughly — pests often colonise midrib undersides first.

Pale stippling along the length of the strap leaves; fine webbing on undersides; leaves yellow and wither. Boost humidity to 60%+, wipe entire leaf length with damp cloth, and spray with neem oil or insecticidal soap weekly.

White fluffy wax at petiole bases and along the midrib; sticky honeydew and mold follow. Dab 70% isopropyl alcohol on colonies; treat whole plant with neem oil spray every 5–7 days until clear.

Silver streaking and rasping marks on leaf surfaces; new growth emerges distorted. Remove damaged growth, apply spinosad-based or neem oil spray, and use yellow sticky traps to monitor populations.