Question
At the moment I have what is called a Money Tree. I'm not sure if that's its actual name but it is a sort of tropical plant and we are growing it indoors. Since I recently discovered that another of my plants (a hibiscus) has spider mites, I decided to check the money tree for them but found something else. This was not a red spider mite as my other plant has but a larger grey spider-shaped insect with black stripes. I found it making a web on the underside of a leaf and I believe it has been nibbling on other leaves. As soon as I saw it, it scurried under the leaf and I did not see it again. The web it made was thicker those the spider mites on my other plant made. It looked a bit like thin cotton candy and was made on the underside of one leaf where it connected to the other leaf keeping the leaves together. Afterwards, I carefully looked over the rest of the plant and found another web of the same kind. In size, the insect was maybe one half inch long, maybe smaller.
Can you help me identify and eliminate this pest?

Answer
Sean,

I can't be absolutely sure without a photo but I don't think what you are describing is a plant pest. I think it is probably a spider. There are no plant pests that look like what you describe and the behavior of it "scurrying away when it saw you" is very spider-like. Spiders are visually oriented whereas plant pests are not. Also, the "cotton candy" web is very spider-like. I'm not sure what caused the leaf damage but I'm pretty sure it is not the critter described. If you post a picture I may be able to give you a definite id.

As far as spider mites are concerned the very best control is insecticidal soap. Here's an article about soaps http://www.livingwithbugs.com/insecticidal_soap.html if you are curious.

I hope this is useful.

Jack DeAngelis
http://www.livingwithbugs.com