THE mystery surrounding the origin of a white, ash-like substance "falling from the sky" in the Westlakes area has been solved.
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Concerned residents from Toronto, Coal Point and Wangi Wangi had contacted the Lakes Mail with questions about the strange substance falling onto their properties in recent weeks.
Some theorised that the "ash" might have been fallout from Eraring Power Station. It turns out that the substance wasn't ash. And the power station was not the source.
An investigation by the power station's environmental team has revealed the material is, in fact, a "naturally occurring crystallised protective covering created by psyllid nymphs on gum tree leaves".
The material, which is known as lerps, appears as white, fern-shaped deposits on leaves and resembles a fine, ash-like substance when they fall to the ground.
Information on the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website states lerps are the protective covers made by nymphs of jumping plant lice or psyllids, which are made when the insects excrete honeydew on the leaf.
The sugars and amino acids in the honeydew crystallise in the air to form lerps. The lerp size and shape varies between species of psyllid.
Eraring Power Station's environment manager, Neil Williams, said the west Lake Macquarie area experiences a large psyllid occurrence such as this every three to five years.
"Although a nuisance for the local community and especially those with large gum trees on their property, the psyllids themselves do not cause any lasting damage to trees or defoliation," he said.
"We just have to live with them until the summer season is over, which is probably another month or so."
What is a nymph?
A NYMPH is a stage in an insect’s life cycle as it metamorphoses into an adult.
Nymphs often look like smaller, wingless versions of an adult insect, and may molt several times to reach adulthood.
Insects that have a nymph stage include grasshoppers, crickets and dragonflies.