sooty mould A dark, soot-like, fungal growth which appears on plants infested with sap-sucking insects such as aphids or scale insects; these insects produce a sugary fluid (‘honeydew’), and the sooty mould fungi grow on this. Sooty moulds may belong to various genera of the Dothideales.

sooty mould A dark, soot-like, fungal growth which appears on plants infested with sap-sucking insects such as aphids or scale insects; these insects produce a sugary fluid (‘honeydew’), and the sooty-mould fungi grow on this. Sooty moulds may belong to various genera of the Dothideales.