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Integrated Pest Management

Insect ID help needed

16 years ago

I have an infestation of some kind of insect on my Plumeria. (Please see the pictures below.) It seems the babies are white, and the adults are a light gray. They leave a cottony substance on the underside of the leaves. It's not white fly ... I looked that up and the bug is different. Can any one tell me the name of it, and how to get rid of this. There is also a spider on one of the plants, and a strange bug on another. Can anyone ID those, too, and are they harmful to plants? Thank you!

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Comments (6)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
16 years ago
There are so many 'woolly' critters that I forget them from year to year. I'll have to brush up on my ID skills! These surely look like one of the woolly aphids, but I wouldn't swear to it. It's not like any mealy bug I've seen. (What's your location, by the way?) Insecticidal soaps applied to the pests will help in control. Read and follow directions of the product you purchase.

Your spider is not harmful to your plants or you. Spiders catch the other insects. This one has some growing to do.

Have NO idea what the last little guy is! He's cute, though.
novembergrl
Original Author
16 years ago
I live in the Tampa Bay area, Pinellas county, 4 or 5 miles from the Gulf. I was just really curious about the bugs. The plants are up against the house, in the shade, so I suppose that is why they have this problem. (You mean that little spikey spider is going to get bigger??) LOL Thanks for info, and any more if you have it!
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Kimmsr
16 years ago
That spider may be helping to control the pest you have. Mealy bugs are a wide variety of kind of more or less similar unarmored scale like thingys. If just a sharp water spray does not work, the next least toxic means of control would be insecticidal soap, although that could be harmful to your spider.
dorothydot
16 years ago
I second Kimmsr's recommendation of insecticidal soap. Be sure to thoroughly saturate the upper and lower sides of each leaf - this works to kill the bugs on contact. The sharp water spray likely will just be a temporary setback.

They do look like some form of woolly aphid. And apids in general are particularly susciptible to the insecticidal soap. May need to re-apply once or twice more, but this is by far the most environmental-friendly mode of bug control.

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Kimmsr
16 years ago
As always with Integrated Pest Management onxe it has been determined that this insect is a pest and the damage is too much, then always start with the least toxic means of control and see what happens. If that does not work then, by all means, move up the toxicity ladder, slowly, always with the idea in mind that you use the least toxic means of control to control the problem.
west_texas_peg
16 years ago
novembergrl

Have attempted to reach you but no email listed and appears GW mail is not going through.

You list Rain Lily Bulbs Lavender on your Exchange Page. I would like to know more about them.

Peggy

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