Mealybug
Photo Credit: Dieter Weber, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Schmierlaeuse.uellue.jpg, used under GNU Free Documentation License.
Mealybug is a type of unarmored scale insect from the family Pseudococcidae that affect garden plants. Usually found in moist, warm climates, mealybugs are considered garden pests. They feed on plant juices of greenhouse plants, house plants and subtropical trees.
Female mealybugs are nymphal and wingless, never undergoing a complete metamorphosis through their lifecycle. Unlike other female scale insects, they retain legs and can move. Male mealybugs on the other hand are winged, and undergo a fuller metamorphosis than their female counterparts, though not a complete metamorphosis in the true sense - there are no clear larval, pupal and adult stages for mealybugs, and the males do not have fully developed wings either. Nevertheless, the male mealybugs do transform, from wingless, ovoid nymphs to wasp-like adults.
It is the female mealybugs that cause a lot of garden problems. They attach themselves to plants, secreting a powdery wax layer that give the name "mealybug". This secretion is used to protect them while they suck on the plant juices. The male mealybugs, on the other hand, do not feed at all as adults: their sole purpose in living is to fertilize the females. Some species of mealybugs lay eggs on the waxy later. The eggs are in quantities of 50-100. Other species give birth to their young directly from the female.
Mealybugs are prone to damage citrus plants as well as sugarcane, grapes, pineapple, coffee trees, cassava, ferns, cacti and orchids. Mealybugs often go hand in hand with ants, and the presence of ants often intensify the damage from mealybugs because the ants protect them from predators and parasites.
Mealybugs are difficult to eradicate. Repeated applications of insecticide such as diazinon should help. Dab the colonies with methylated spirits or gin.
|
