Bug Fest

I can't count the amount of new residents I have on my Cairo Peach Hibiscus in the front yard. It's amazing! I've just sprayed with Ortho Bug-B-Gon MAX, although I'm not sure that will kill everything. Should I use Neem?

Another bud ...

And another ...

One of the predators on the same plant ... and I think these guys are "working" the infested buds.

The previous one's relative has caught a fly (?) and is "assassinating him!"

It seems like summer is the season - but if I were you - I'd grab my garden hose and give the plants a real good spraying with the setting on blast wash off as much a you can - then use Neem in the afternoon being sure to use it regularly every 5-7 days. Spraying off with water first will be the first line of defense - when you spray with neem be sure to get the surfaces around and at the base of the plant too. Good luck!

Hi Amanda,

The second photo is the one to worry about. These are mealybugs and if you don't get them they will get your hibs. Larry Johnson, once a commercial hibiscus grower in Miami, was driven out of business by mealy bugs. What you need to do is wipe them off your plants using a Q-tip dipped in alcohol. It helps to treat the plants with the systemic chemical imidacloprid (Bayers Tree and Shrub) and to spray the plants with L-limonene based natural pesticides. What makes mealybugs so dangerous is that they cover themselves with a white waxy coating that protects them from normal chemical pesticides so you cannot spray for them in the normal way. The limonene (oil of citrus) disolves the waxy coating and if it is strong enough it will kill the mealybugs, too. Howver, at the strength required to kill mealies it may defoliate your hibiscus although that is better than letting the mealies run rampant and the hibs will grow new leaves right away. If you only have a few hibiscus it is easiet to just wipe the mealies off but whatever you do, don't ignore them or they will win the battle.

We plan to cover this topic in detail in a future HVH newsletter - free and easy to sign up for from the HVH website.


Charles
Hidden Valley Hibiscus

I don't understand why but this has been the worst year ever for insects on my hibiscus. I am just coming out of a major isssue with spider mites. Pretty sure I have them whipped for the time being but I was so spoiled never having to take any precautions before. Now I am showering my plants twice a day. They have been neemed, washed with Dr. Bronner's lavender soap (BTW, the bees love this stuff) and neemed some more, it seems to have helped although some of my plants are still naked.

The other day I was picking up something for my BBQ grill at Lowe's and the part I needed was adjacent to the organic garden stuff. I didn't even know they had organics now. Organicide caught my eye; it is used heavily in FL for scale but the label says it is also good for other things like mites. Main ingredients are Soybean oil and fish oil. I am going to try it as a preventative on the hibs.

Wow, ardesia! Let me know how it works! I may want to try it.

Is the second picture citrus mealy bug or crypt beetle larvae? It looks like the larvae to me, and they are called mealy bug destroyers. The beetles are black with a red head. You can distinguish their larvae from the mealy bugs because they are larger and look like little buggy sheepdogs - kind of furry. You want to save those - they eat tons of mealy bugs. The crypts also move much faster than mealy bugs..
In the first photo, are some of the aphids just brown husks? If so, you might have some predatory wasps that are busily eating away at your problem. They lay eggs on the aphids and the larvae eats the aphids from the inside out. Takes a while to gain control though.
Here's a link to a picture of the crypt larvae:
http://greenmethods.com/site/biocontrols/cryptolaemus/


This message was edited Aug 7, 2008 10:50 PM

You know Ardesia, I've had problems this year too, that I've never had before. I was just chalking it up to being in a different house. Thrips seem to keep coming back - I just hate those little buggers!!!

dbsmith - I think it was what you suggested because the Ortho killed them the firs time around. :/ At least it killed the ones I saw, and they were wooly-looking like "sheepdogs" I guess. Very mobile, too. MAN, I wish I would've kept those guys.

As Charles suggested, the Mealybugs wouldn't have been affected by the Ortho. These were. MAN, they sure do look a LOT like Mealybugs! How does one learn to tell the difference between good and bad predators? A lot of times when you find something that looks scary, it's really a good bug! Or when you find something that looks harmless, it's bad. Grrrrr..... I guess that's why we have DG. I can poke everyone on here to find out.

You may still have the beetles - look around. Tiny black body, red head, and they bite when they land on you. I wear gloves and long sleeves when I do a release in the greenhouse. The crypts need a heavy infestation to survive because they eat so many mealybugs. Maybe you'll still have some more. They do look like wooly sheepdogs - the people at IPM labs laughed when I made the comparison. Now, did they hitchhike to your garden on a plant or are they flying about the neighborhood?

Amanda, the label on the Organocide does say "may cause hibiscus flowers to drop". I am not sure if that means the buds and or the flowers but I would rather have healthy, bug free plants right now. Anyway, the biggest bloom season around here is many weeks away, in the fall after the nights cool down.

ardesia - I'm with you. I can do without blooms for 3-5 weeks if it saves my plants and foliage.

dbsmith - I don't know? It's very odd, I've nbever had them before. And I certainly haven't yet seen any small black bugs with red heads flying around that bite yet ... but I did find more of those wooly-looking things eating on my Brugs in the backyard? They'd eaten up one of my rooted cuttings.

The crypt larvae don't eat plants, only mealy bugs. Are you sure they are the ones eating the plants? My brugs are under attack, but it isn't from the crypts - it's some other beetle.
The beetles don't bite that hard, I just know when they are on me.

I've had horrible battles with spidermites this year. Could it be the humidity? I can't even show you any pics from August, cuz as of now, there are none worth taking!
Between the rain and bugblaster, you would think I could get this thing under control.....

I just got in a shipment of the predatory mites to control the spidermites, but I haven't had as much of a problem as usual. I was thinking the humidity was helping, since the two spotted spidermites usually like dry conditions. We haven't had "dry" conditions for more than a few hours this summer.

I *think* we are dealing with broad mites and they must love humidity because we have plenty. 78% yesterday with a dew point of 75, it was like soup.

Do you know of any beneficial predators for broad mites?

I called IPM labs where I get my beneficials. They do have bugs to control the broad mite, but suggested that you call to explain your conditions. You'd speak with Carol. They have been great for me to deal with, and are very informative. The link:
http://www.ipmlabs.com/home.php

Thanks, I'll look into it.

A tidbit of clarification. The earlier photo (photo 2) that showed the possible Mealybugs was not Mealybugs - it truly was something like dbsmith2 suggested. After taking a closer look at what was on my Brugs, I noticed that it was much smaller than those other "sheepdog" looking things and much, MUCH less mobile/active. I believe that what was on my Brugs actually was Mealybugs (I bagged the whole plant in 4 different bacgs, all tied TIGHT and thrown in a plastic air-tight container so that they hopefully won't escape to any other plants). Attached is the photo of what was all over my Brugs - and multiplying RAPIDLY.

I see two small crypts feasting on mealy bugs. What's on the other side of the vein? They'll probably do fine in the bag as long as it doesn't heat up too much.

Within 2 day's time, the Mealybugs on that little Brug cutting went from a count of 2 to so many I couldn't count them. Then I found two on other plants in other areas in my yard and so I'm tossing that whole thing. The Brug that I had wasn't one that I'd paid money for or was given - it was a cutting that I took from my own 10+ ft. tall CG Brugs. I can get another cutting from them this Fall.

That is interesting that you found those "crypts" feeding on the Mealybugs - I didn't even notice that. I thought they were baby Mealybugs or something.

An update on the Organicade; it did cause the buds on June's Joy to drop :-(((

However, it did not seem to bother the buds or flowers on any of my other hibiscus at all. The jury is still out on it's effect on the mites or whatever was bothering my plants.