Phaius tankervilleae yellow & black spots

[Cattleya234]

Hi everyone, I recently noticed some small black and yellow spots on my new P. tankervilleae, especially on the leaf bases and new growth. I’ve only had it a few days, so I’m not sure exactly what caused it. It’s a massive plant in a 10" pot with 3 new spikes growing. The media seems well draining and isn’t oversaturated. Some of my Cattleyas and Oncidiums get spots like this occasionally and they don’t seem harmful, but this seems a bit different. These spots are slightly bigger and more evenly distributed across the leaves. Thank you, any help is appreciated!

[Roberta]

Take a look at the undersides of the leaves... where sucking insects like scale hide. With thin-leaved plants like Phaius, you want to be vigilant for spider mites... microscopic, can sometimes be detected by wiping the underside of the leaf with a tissue a looking for streaks. A spray of insecticidal soap and perhaps rubbing alcohol (70% isopropanol) will do no harm, maybe stop an infestation before it gets going.

[estación seca]

It looks like bugs took some bites. That's common with larger terrestrial orchids, which tend to have soft leaves, and are so large many are grown outside. I wouldn't worry unless it gets worse.

Edit: These have leaves that last a year or two. If this is an old leaf it might be starting to decline.

[Leafmite]

Is that white stuff mealy bugs? I had mealy bugs on my Phaius and treated it with the indoor Bonide granular systemic. That quickly solved the problem. I have quite a few plants so using the alcohol method in the past hasn't been very effective for me but if you have just a few plants or plants that are not attractive to mealy bugs, the alcohol works very well, too.