Author: Elena N. https://floristics.info/ru/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=19 Category: Plant Pests Published: November 07, 2017Last edits: October 26, 2020
- Mealybug on grapes
Mealybugs (lat. Pseudococcidae), or pseudocushions, or felt insects, represent a family of hemipteran insects, including more than 2,200 species. Only 330 of them are found in Europe. The mealybug is a widespread insect that damages food, greenhouse and indoor plants, including cacti and succulents. People call these pests “hairy lice.”
Mealybug pest - description
The mealybug has a characteristic appearance and is large in size compared to other insects, but an inexperienced gardener may not immediately detect the onset of the invasion, which greatly complicates the fight against the pest.
The length of the mealybug can reach from 3 to 10 mm. Females and males differ significantly in appearance. The female pest has an oval body covered with white powdery wax, she has many short legs and long thread-like antennae. The scale insect larva is similar to the female, but smaller in size. And males are winged insects that resemble flies or mosquitoes. They do not have mouthparts, do not feed on plants and do not harm them.
What are the harms of mealybugs? These are sucking pests that feed on cell sap, which first leads to a slowdown and then to a complete cessation of plant growth and development. During their life, mealybugs secrete honeydew, or honeydew - a sweet and sticky liquid, which is a favorable environment for the development of various fungal diseases, in particular sooty fungus. The mealybug pest damages all organs - both ground and roots, and easily moves to neighboring plants.
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Of the many species, the most famous are the greenhouse plate, bamboo, citrus, seaside, grape, Australian grooved, root, bristle and Comstock bugs.
Prevention measures
Mealybugs are quite difficult to exterminate, severely depleting plants. Therefore, it is much more effective to prevent their occurrence.
- Compliance with the rules of care is the most important preventive measure, since pests, as a rule, attack weakened plants.
- Regular examination of “pets” will help to recognize infection at an early stage.
- Before you bring a new plant into your home, you need to inspect it carefully.
- Quarantine for newly acquired pets is at least 30 days.
- Soil disinfection.
- Thorough disinfection of pots after diseased flowers.
In order to fight a pest, you should know its preferences and biological characteristics. Eliminating conditions favorable for parasites is the main task of preventing infection.
Mealybug - preventive treatment
To prevent plants from being damaged by the pest, it is necessary to carry out the following preventive measures:
- regularly inspect the plants, especially the underside, leaf axils and buds ;
- promptly remove dried leaves, shoots, branches and buds that attract pests;
- observe the watering regime: moisture should be regular and sufficient;
- from time to time give indoor flowers a warm shower;
- place each new plant in quarantine , that is, keep it for at least a couple of weeks away from other indoor flowers and be sure to treat it with an insecticide for preventive purposes.
Mealybugs thrive at temperatures above 25 ºC and high air humidity, so in such conditions preventive inspection of plants should become frequent and mandatory.
Symptoms of the lesion
Even the most attentive gardeners do not always notice the first signs of infection. Even though mealybugs are not the smallest of houseplant pests. Only care will help keep the plant healthy. Signs worth noting:
- stopping flower growth;
Mealybug.
- wilting, yellowing, falling leaves;
- curvature of young shoots;
- the presence of honeydew, honeydew, sooty fungus;
- the formation of cotton balls in the lower parts of the stems.
How to deal with mealybugs at home
Remedies for mealybugs (preparations)
How to treat plants against mealybugs? Almost all insecticides cope with this pest, but the best of them are considered to be:
- Admiral is a hormonal insecticide with enteric contact action (active ingredient is pyriproxyfen);
- Aktara for mealybug - an insecticide with enteric contact action (active ingredient - thiamethoxam);
- Actellik is a non-systemic organophosphate insectoacaricide with enteric contact action (active ingredient – pirimiphos-methyl). Due to its high toxicity, the drug is not recommended for use indoors;
- Apploud – insecticide (active ingredient – buprofezin);
- Bankol is an insecticide with enteric contact action (active ingredient – bensultap);
- Biotlin is a systemic insecticide with enteric contact action (active ingredient – imidacloprid);
- Bitoxibacillin is a biological preparation with insectoacaricidal properties to protect plants from pests;
- Inta-vir is a broad-spectrum insecticide with enteric contact action (active ingredient – cypermethrin);
- Commander is a systemic insecticide with enteric contact action (active ingredient – imidacloprid);
- Confidant is a systemic insecticide with enteric contact action (active ingredient – imidacloprid);
- Mospilan is a systemic insecticide with enteric contact action (active ingredient – acetamiprid);
- Tanrek is a broad-spectrum systemic insecticide with enteric contact action (active ingredient – imidacloprid);
- Fitoverm is an insectoacaricide of biological origin with enteric contact action (active ingredient - aversectin).
In addition to those described, there are other effective drugs against mealybugs , for example, Dantop (Ponche, Apache), Vertimek, Spark Double Effect and Calypso.
Mealybug on orchids
Mealybugs settle on ficus, dracaena and even cacti, but most often mealybugs appear on flowers - on orchids and violets, for example. When examining your indoor plants, the following symptoms will help you determine that this particular pest has settled on them:
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- the plant seems to be sprinkled with a loose powdery coating;
- the flower droops, its leaves lose turgor;
- Sticky spots of honeydew form on the external organs of the plant;
- the plant is covered with oval white insects.
If you find at least one of the listed signs, immediately begin saving the flower. How to deal with mealybugs on an orchid? First of all, it needs to be isolated so that the pests do not spread to other flowers. Dilute 2 g of green soap in 100 ml of water and very carefully wipe the ground organs of the orchid with this solution using a sponge or cotton pad. You need to penetrate into the cracks between the trunk and leaves with a brush soaked in the solution, since pests like to settle in hard-to-reach places. Don't forget to wash the leaves from the underside. After this, you need to spray the flower three times with an interval of 7-10 days with some folk remedy (infusions of tobacco or garlic, cyclamen decoction). Only treating the orchid three times will give the desired result, although it will seem to you that the pests have disappeared after the first spraying.
Among the chemical preparations against mealybugs on orchids, Fitoverm, Inta-vir and Bitoxibacillin are the most effective.
Mealybug on violets
For violets, the mealybug is the most difficult and insidious pest. It is difficult to track the moment when the scale insect appears on violets, since almost its entire cycle takes place underground. But even when the enemy is discovered, it turns out that fighting him is not so easy: he is ideally protected by the structural features of his body.
In the fight against mealybugs on violets, do not waste time trying to cope with the pest with folk remedies, but immediately use systemic insecticides. It is best to treat violets with Actellik: 2-3 sprayings at weekly intervals with a solution of 2 ml of the drug in 1 liter of water will destroy insects of all stages of development, except eggs. However, plant treatment should be carried out outdoors. If after this, scale insects appear on the violets, you will have to remove each plant from the pot, clean the roots from the soil, carefully treat the stem, axils of the lower leaves and the roots of the violet with a systemic insecticide, and then plant the plant in a fresh substrate.
Mealybug on cacti
If your cactus suddenly began to grow slowly, but you did not find any pests on it, this does not mean that there are none: you must definitely inspect the root system of the plant. Usually, scale insects suck the juice from the fresh growth of the tops of cacti and other succulents, but at the same time they can be found on the roots at the base of the stem and in the earthen coma. Signs of the harmful activity of mealybugs on a cactus may include deformation of young leaves and growth points, as well as brown or reddened marks - bite sites.
To kill mealybugs on cacti, you will need 3 treatments of the above-ground parts of the plants with a systemic insecticide at intervals of 10-15 days. During each spraying, it is necessary to spill the insecticide solution on the soil in which the cacti grow.
Hot water has a very effective effect on the pest: the plants are removed from the pots and washed under running water at a temperature of 45-50 ºC, mechanically removing pests from them and washing the roots from the ground. After washing, the cacti are completely immersed in a solution of a systemic insecticide for several hours, then dried and planted in a fresh, disinfected substrate. Of the chemicals used to combat scale insects on cacti, Decis, Apollo, Karbofos, Fufanon, Actellik, Sherpa and preparations based on imidacloprid have proven themselves well.
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If there are few pests, it may be enough to treat the plant with garlic tincture. It is more convenient to do this with a cotton swab.
Mealybug on dracaena
Signs of damage to dracaena mealybugs are white bloom and spots of honeydew on the stems and leaves of the plant, loss of turgor in the leaves, the formation of brown spots on them and curvature of the stem. Mealybugs appear on the plant in conditions of too high humidity at temperatures above 25 ºC.
Mealybugs on dracaena need to be combated comprehensively, that is, in addition to treating the plant by leaves, it is necessary to disinfect the soil in which the dracaena grows. Among the chemical preparations in the fight against scale insects, Fitoverm has proven itself well, which should be used to treat the plant 4 times with an interval of 1 week. Confidor also copes well with the pest, but the most effective remedy is still Aktara: to spray dracaena on the leaves, use a solution of 4 g of the drug in 5 liters of water, and to treat the soil in a pot, you need to dilute 0.7 g of Aktara in 1 liter of water. However, whatever preparation you prefer, first try to wash off the insects from the plant or remove them using a cotton swab dipped in a soapy solution.
Where to start treatment
Be sure to isolate the indoor flower on which the pest is noticed. Check everyone else, especially those who stood next to the victim.
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First, simply clean the plant of pests. Take a cotton swab and wet it with alcohol, vodka or soap solution. Carefully remove all insects. Pay special attention to young shoots and leaf axils. Remove those with a lot of scale insects. Rinse the plant under a warm shower.
Afterwards, treat the flowers with folk or special store-bought remedies.
Destroy pests
