Spider attacking leaves of plant - HELP?

I have a green leafy plant, not sure what kind it is, but it is sold every where, not a pretty plant. The leaves are kinda triangle looking with light green veins. Anyway, a spider has attacked it and the webs completely surround the entire leaves and kills them, plant bug sprays arent helping. Anyone ever hear of this.

Spider attacking leaves of plant - HELP?
Barkyvonschnauser diagnosed your problem first and has the correct cure. Insecticides will not control mites! You need a miticide. Thumbs up to Barky!





Tent caterpillars are a SPRING only insect and they leave the tent to feed at night, returning at daybreak to the safety of the tent. There is no way these could be your problem at this time of the year. Fall web worm will encase the branches AND leaves in thick, heavy webbing in fall. They do not leave the web; they feed and sleep inside the web. Pretty hard to confuse fall web worms (a defoliator, with many large caterpillars, dark feces, all inside a heavy web) with very small spider mites that you may not even see %26amp; closely cover the leaf with a very fine webbing.





Horticultural oils (Sunspray) used at the "summer oil" rate (2 percent) are the most effective %26amp; safe miticide available for home use. Insecticidal soaps are only marginally effective against spider mites when their webbing prevents penetration. It also is only a contact insecticide (no residual, kills only on contact) with no effect on eggs. Some soaps are phytotoxic and can harm plants. Soaps are no more effective than insecticidal soaps. In fact, insecticidal soaps are just soaps that have been manufactured to prevent plant phytotoxicity %26amp; have maximum insecticidal affect.
Reply:I had a plant with mitesand a friend told me to spray it down with soapy water...thats it, just soapy water..and it worked. Worth a try!!
Reply:are you sure it is a spider? some moths do something similar, they attack the leaves and lay eggs, the catipillars[some very small] build a web-like structure
Reply:Spider? Are you sure?





If it has a web on it and you can see tiny little yellowish things moving around, your problem is "Spider Mites." Mites are a pain in the butt! You have to spray them several times since the eggs will continue to hatch out for several weeks after you first spray them.





You can get a miticide (pretty expensive), or use an organic insecticidal soap. I used the soap on mine and it did a pretty good job of getting rid of them.





I believe pixieotr is referring to what's called a tent caterpillar. If there is a large web that covers the entire ends of branches and the leaves are eaten within and around these tents, this may be your problem, but I seriously doubt it. If the leaves turn yellowish, then brownish, and then dry up and die, it's definitely mites, which in my expert opinion is your problem based on the limited info you gave.
Reply:My boss says they are spider mites so you'll need a miticide to kill them. I don't know if you can buy it OTC but you can call around and ask. I work for a pest control company.


Good Luck!