CLOSED: what's this?

Watch Reply
More
Mark unread Print Skip to new
redzone911 Pinellas, FL Oct 14, 2007

this bird poo look alike is sucking my vine to death

Thumbnail by redzone911
Post #4080451
Quote
Lily_love Central, AL(Zone 7b) Oct 15, 2007

Hummm, I'm not positive; could it be mealybugs? The pic. isn't very clear. Is that a morning glory vine? Knowing what type of plant sometimes helps to id the type of bugs that feed on them.

Post #4083707
Quote
redzone911 Pinellas, FL Oct 15, 2007

this is an air potato vine that appeared from nowhere recently, you know it could be some bizarre species of a mealy bug, they dont move and have brown heads

Post #4084205
Quote
wallaby1 Lincoln, United Kingdom(Zone 8a) Oct 15, 2007

They look like scale insect eggs to me, I get them underneath Camellia leaves and they are a permanent problem. The scale itself usually lives near the midvein of the leaf, also on the top, and at different stages can be found camouflaged at a joint between the leaf and stem, or on the stem. They live in soil and from what I have read the older scales help carry young ones up the plant. One of the sexes can fly, but I have no idea what the actual scale adult which flies looks like as I ahve only ever seen them as a scale, and that scale turns completely into a length of eggs, gradually reducing itself as it 'lays' them.

If you rub them off they feel a little gritty at the eggs stage, tiny brownish eggs covered in white fluff. The usually look like a square ended streak of fluff.

Once you have them they are very difficult to get rid of, I have to check all year round, including winter, the young ones are very difficult to see unless you get used to recognising them as they are small, greenish, and very flat. They exude a sticky substance as they feed on the plant saps, which drops to leaves below and black sooty mould grows on it.

This is a pic of one which has completely turned into eggs alongside one which is just starting.

Thumbnail by wallaby1
Post #4084814
Quote

Post a Reply to this Thread

Please or sign up to post.
Back to Forum Homepage

More Insect and Spider Identification Threads

Go to all Insect and Spider Identification threads
BACK TO TOP