Last time I had pests hit (black mites on my mango) you guys knew just what to do, and so once again as I find myself with a bunch of insect nasties I turn to my fellow tropical gardeners.
The plants affected are my Jatropha and Bouganvillea (for some reason these bugs skip the papaya, mango, carambola, and citrus trees). Picture attached. Any help/advice would be much appreciated. I'm not afraid of using pesticides, and definitely want results.
Thanks in advance!
-Happy
It looks like a mealybug infestation: http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&sugexp=llsfp&pq=mealie+bugs&xhr=t&q=mealybugs&cp=0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ygSVTd74GNOftwf9oO2KDA&sqi=2&ved=0CCkQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=726
A product containing Imidaicloprid will get rid of them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imidacloprid
Just give them a good blast with the hose.
@plantladylin thanks, but these aren't mealybugs. At least there are other bugs on there too: a kind of longish white fly-like bug. Not cottony and round like mealybugs. I've had mealybugs in the past. Thanks for the feedback though and I'll keep looking!
Very similar looking to Cottony Cushion Scale.
It does look quite similar, but it's weird that these beasties aren't touching the citrus trees that are interspersed with the heavily infested jatropha plants. I'm guessing it's a closely-related cousin. Thanks for the lead!
Looks like mealybug destroyer larvae emerging from the egg sacks + eggs of another bug like whitefly. I see them here in Cozumel. The mealy bug destroyers are about twice the size of mealybugs, fierce-looking little things, and they move around a lot in search of food. They'll die if you don't have lots of pests for them to dine on. IME, they hatch on a clean plant and all attempts to relocate them to food sources have ended tragically: Either they are injured in the attempt or become too confused to eat. So it's best to leave them be and hope they make it to adulthood.
Interesting! I'd never even heard of the mealybug destroyer until I read your post. Now I want to order some!
Forget the mealy bug destroyer, I want some of that Bouganvillea destroyer to get rid of my Bouganvilleas, LOL.
Ha! Send me your mailing address, tropicbreeze, and I'll send you an envelope of the little critters that turned my bouganvilleas to sticks. In return you can send me a few crates of whatever mangoes you've got going at the moment. Deal?
Sounds okay to me. But don't let our quarantine people know. They'd have me skinned alive, tan my hide, and hang it up in a public place as a warning to any others who might want to try. :O(
aren't those whitefly larva? We have an infestation on our bouganvilla and ioxora. They leave behind black sooty deposits all over the leaves- the honey dew that they excrete causes this. We have tried neem oil and power washing to no avail. I also shook them off and the chickens feasted!
Hi, To me they look like greenhouse orthezias, a serious pest, very difficult to get rid of. They infest and destroy my basil and coleus, especially, but they also show up on other plants. They do not seem to be as well known as they should be, considering the damage they do, and how common they are. Hosing them off does not work, they seem to have a protective waterproof covering. I have not tried chemicals.
