What's eating my pygmy water lily?

Pygmy Water Lily (Nymphaea tetragona) is susceptible to the same water lily pest complex as larger Nymphaea varieties — aphids, the water lily beetle, and the china mark moth — but its small pad size makes damage more visible and potentially more damaging per leaf. Keep fish in the pond for natural aphid control.

Black or olive-green clusters on tiny pads and buds; rapid colony build-up can overwhelm small-leaved plants quickly. Jet of water to knock colonies into the water for fish to eat; hand-wipe pads on small container ponds.

Larvae scrape pad surfaces leaving translucent windows and slots; on small pads this can destroy most of the leaf area. Remove and discard affected pads; hose larvae into the water for fish to consume; cut back pondside plants in autumn.

Caterpillars cut oval pieces from pads and create floating leaf cases; holes are particularly damaging on the pygmy lily's small pads. Pick off and destroy leaf cases; reduce emergent marginal vegetation to lower adult moth numbers.