2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Mealybugs are also called hairy lice. They owe their name to a cotton-like, waxy white discharge. These parasites (and in the world fauna there are over 1600 species of worms) are not at all difficult to see with the naked eye. Both adult females and parasite larvae suck leaves, young shoots and buds, provoking a delay in plant growth. Croton, succulents, cacti, ficuses and some types of beautiful orchids are especially susceptible to enemy attacks
A few words about the pest
Mealybugs are sucking insects 3 - 6 mm long, covered with a wax powdery bloom of a rich white color, often with wax plates along the edges. They are distinguished by incredible mobility and activity, and age has no effect on their speed of movement. Males, unlike females, have wings. Their abdomen is equipped with a pair of tail filaments, but there is no oral apparatus at all - adult males, oddly enough, do not feed.
Some varieties of worms are characterized by the absence of legs, or their legs are reduced. Despite the fact that most mealybugs lay eggs in order to procreate (they do it in a cotton-like facial white bag), there are also species with viviparous females. Parasites are distinguished by serious fertility: from two to four generations per year is the norm for many of them. Early-growing larvae, called tramps, move quite vigorously through the vegetation and are easily carried by the wind. They lose their mobility as soon as they stick to vegetation. The larvae of the next age that have completed molting are looking for suitable places to feed again. Adult females also actively move through the vegetation, however, before laying eggs, they go to shelters - since they are afraid of moisture, the shelters must be dry.
Mealybugs can be easily identified by their waxy and cottony white bloom on vegetation. In the future, the symptoms of damage appear already in the form of a sooty fungus, as well as honeydew (in other words, sugary secretions).
How to fight
You should constantly inspect the vegetation for its settlement with mealybugs. You need to keep the plants clean, periodically removing all drying leaves. It should be noted that plants are much less likely to be affected by this pest, the leaves of which are periodically washed.
If the vegetation is not severely affected, then coping with the misfortune will not be difficult. A cotton swab moistened in soapy water or a soft brush must first be cleaned of the vegetation from parasites, as well as from the cotton-like secretions formed by them, after which medical spraying with a decoction of cyclamen, garlic or tobacco infusion, or a solution of green soap should be carried out (for 1 liter of water - 10 - 15 G). They are carried out three times, with an interval of 7-10 days.
It is not difficult to prepare an infusion of garlic: for half a liter of water, take 4 - 5 cloves of garlic, which are squeezed out or chopped very finely. The water is brought to a boil, garlic is put there and insisted for at least four hours. Then the filtered infusion, without diluting, is applied to the leaves with a brush.
Success in treating vegetation can be achieved using an alcoholic solution with soap: to prepare it, you need a liter of water (moderately warm), denatured alcohol (10 ml) and 15 g of liquid soap.
Spraying with an oil composition also gives a good effect: 2 tbsp. tablespoons of olive oil are combined for this with water (1 l). Suitable for spraying diseased plants, as well as for watering them and horsetail tincture. Decoctions of potato skins or onion skins will also come in handy.
If the lesions are impressive, then, in addition to manually removing the affected areas, it is recommended to spray the vegetation with any of the following means at an interval of one to two weeks: Fitoverm, Konfidant, Tanrek, Konfidor, Calypso, Mospilan, Biotlin or Aktara. It is possible that as long as it is possible to find the most suitable drug, many different means will be tried.
For the use of chemicals, the most favorable period will be when young individuals, as soon as they hatch, begin to get out of the egg sac or mother's womb, that is, when their bodies are not yet covered with protective wax.
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