Mealybugs

[Diane64]

I can see my imagines now, can you guys?

Yeah, I'll use a systemic insecticidal soap at the beginning of the growing season. As one member said, the Cacti are getting ready to go dormant..
I bring all but one into the house in the winter, I'm not real sure about ALL the rest, but I don't want to take any chances. I know the Aloes will freeze.
I'm thinking about submitting imagines to (Which Forum?), to see if I can safely leave some outside for the winter.
I had a rather large collection back in my home town of San Diego, but here in Las Vegas it gets down to 29 degrees that I've seen, Could get colder,
but it's not for very long, and it warms up during the day.
They're ALL under a patio cover, but they can sunburn under there, too. It's a big cover, but it gets really HOT & WINDY here. 115+ easy!!

Now that I'm looking around, I think I see more MealyBugs, but HOW can you tell the difference? I hope I can at least control them over the winter with
insecticidal soap. I sure don't want all my House Plants getting them bugs!!!
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Diane

Oh, while I'm here and can submit more imagines----Does anybody know what this ONE and only one that I can find is on my beloved Echinopsis Oxygonia,
nick named Easter Lily Cactus is? Thanks

[greenknight]

Yay, pictures!

I think that's scale insects on the E. oxygona. They're related to mealybugs, control is similar.

I don't think I would use soap spray on the dormant cacti. You should rinse soap off before it dries on the plants, and you shouldn't be applying that much water then - especially if they might be exposed to frost, very important that they're dry in that case. It might be better to use alcohol as the dormant season approaches.

Mealybugs don't breed in cool weather, anyway. If you control them pretty well for the next few weeks, it should be ok until spring.

[CactusMad]

Great pictures.It is sometimes hard to tell the difference unless you use a magnifying glass or get a cocktail stick and very very gently try to move a tiny bit of the wool.If it is mealy bugs nests they will move easily.


Sylv.

[iann]

Mealies don't have big black heads. Here's an adult female "in the open", although often they will be hidden in some cotton that they spin. Males are quite different but short-lived and almost never seen.

mealie1.jpg (90.44 KiB) Viewed 2574 times

[Diane64]

WOW, iann !!!
What do you suppose that thing with the big black head is? You can see that it's alive, not just a piece of dirt. I watched it emerge from the wooly "spot?"

SO, I wonder if I have Mealies after all?!? I hope not!! Found out I have Scale insects. I'd rather have scale than some sort of Fungus or Bacteria.
I think insects are easier to control than diseases. And I'd rather have Scale than Mealy Bugs. At least I can see them....lol Never have had either before
though.
However, I have Anthracnose on my Bell Peppers. Don't understand how I a fungus like that found it's way to the high hot & very dry desert of Las Vegas, Nevada.
I've read that it doesn't even occur on the west side of the country. I don't have those ugly lesions on the fruit like I've seen in the photos the guy at Dave's Garden
ID'ed for me. I only have small cracked spots on the leaves and a little bit of the same on a few peppers.

Another mystery!! I just assumed that anything living inside a wooly on a Cactus was a MealyBug. Who Knew??----You did!! LOL

Thanks so much for the information. Hope he was the only one!!
Diane

[Diane64]

Dear greenknight & Cactusmad,

Thank you both for your prompt replies and very helpful info.

greenknight, It may sound strange, but thanks for the Scale ID. I'm relieved it's those nasty guys rather than a Fungus or Bacteria. Insects are easier to deal with than
diseases, I think. I can actually see Scale and know what I'm looking at. I removed a bunch of them rather easily with some flat tweezers. I couldn't get all the white
stuff off the biggest Scale without doing some major damage to the Cactus. Will that be a problem?

Did you guys see iann's photo of a real MealyBug? . So, what in the world is that thing with the big black head? You can see that it's alive, not just a piece of
dirt or something. Ah, the mysteries of gardening. I guess that's why there's websites and forums like this...

So you guys, I wonder if I have Mealies or not!?! I should continue with the alcohol treatments, right greenknight? Do I just dab some on each one I see or drench
them like I saw one member say? Will that much alcohol harm the Cacti? And, what about a hairy "Old Peruvian Man" that I have? I can't see a thing in there. I wasn't crazy about spraying it with water in the first place. Seems like the white hair used to turn brownish. Although, today it looked all fluffy and happy and CLEAN.
It was so dirty from the CRAZY HOT WINDS we get here!! Poor thing. Had black spots all through it.

Well Thank You ALL so very much for your kind help. I really appreciate it. I'm sure I'll be back soon.
-----Diane

[greenknight]

I have no idea what the black-headed thing is - but alcohol should kill it.

Alcohol should be used sparingly. Dabbing it on any bugs you see would be the safest, yes. You might miss some baby ones that way, but if you're going to use a systemic next spring it won't matter.

I'd rather have scales than mealies, too - they're easier to see, and they don't spread as fast.

[snarfie]

there might be a chance that the black thing was a bud

[Diane64]

I thank you, greenknight. You're a very nice and helpful person. With your help, we'll make it through until spring.
Those Scale inects aren't going to spread to my house plants----right?
I'll try to keep them on the other side of the living room. Do any stages of them fly?

[greenknight]

The males of some scale species fly, but the females are crawlers - though they're light enough to blow around, might be how you got them. I don't know how far they can crawl, I'm sure they don't move fast. If you cleaned around the plants daily, you could wipe out any travelers. Or you could put diatomaceous earth around them as a barrier.

[Diane64]

Dear Snarfie,

Do you really think that black headed thing might have been a bud? Geez, I'd hate to think that! But I really don't see how.

The whole series of photos from start to the death of whatever that was only took less than 15 minutes. Especially from the very first pics, since I managed to catch
all the action justbefore all the action started.
That would have to be one super fast flower. . Even my Echinosis Oxygona isn't that quick, and once that flower gets going--LOOK OUT, or you'll miss it.
It doesn't start that quickly from a small bud. That process takes forever, but once it gets 2-3 inches long, it grows I/2 inch at least, a day. My first one broke off
before I got to it. I didn't know such a really long, (almost a foot long), skinny stem would have such a HUGE bloom on it!!! Surprise!!

Although my E. Oxygona happens to have a long flower stem on it right now, don't you think it's kind of late in the season for buds to start forming? It was pretty far
down the Cactus, too. Not at the top, about half way down.

I'm not sure why I took the first photo. Saw something, I guess just a bad angle.
The times I entered are correct, not the ones listed with the photo.

Thanks for your comment, Diane

[Diane64]

Hi, me again with the black headed "Mealy Bug?".
I sent the photos into a guy at Dave's Garden that heads up the" Insect and Spider Identification" Forum. He admits that he's
no Cactus pest expert, but he provided a website link: xtremehorticultureofthedesert. Las Vegas and the surrounding Mohave Desert.
I know that the "Cochineal Scale" are supposed to feed exclusively on the "Opuntia' Cactus---but look at the photos!!!!
They are almost exactly the same!! I wish I would have pulled it out of the fuzzy stuff and squished it to see if my fingers
turned red, instead of spraying soapy water on it, resulting in it's disappearance.

I imagine that you're tired of seeing my photos of my black headed insect, but for comparison's sake---Here's theirs,
then here's mine.

Please tell me what you think, PLEASE. Stranger things have happened in the Desert!!
Thanks, Diane

[greenknight]

Though Cochineal insects are usually found on Opuntias, I think it's possible to get them on other cacti.

[Diane64]

Thanks Greenknight,

I didn't know that for sure.
So do you that's what it is? Cochineal Scale? So far, I've only seen the one. Hope that's all. Do they spread quickly or hard to get rid of?

Nice to have a final ID, if that indeed is what it is. Just hope the little bugger isn't going to a major infestation problem.
Like this one--ICK!!

[greenknight]

I'm not totally sure, but in researching Cochineal (Dactylopius coccus) I found some sources said they lived "primarily" on Opuntias. Also, there are other species in the genus Dactylopius which are almost impossible to distinguish from it - which, to me, makes it more likely that some might be able to survive on other cacti.

I also confirmed that Cochineal females are dipersed by the wind (the males are winged). They don't have a choice about where they land.