I use some stuff called Eco-oil. It is made from Canola oil plus some other ingredients and works by smothering bugs so they cannot breathe. Also helps prevent fungus infections. Another plus is that you can use it to clean dirt off plant leaves. There must be similar products available in the USA.

Hello Cath, Thanks..would you happen to know what ant eggs look like? Color, size? lol Well, aside from freezing, I'm okay..And you? How are you getting along? Cath, do you have Fish Emulsion on hand? I swear it kills Scale. Several years ago, the owner of Harris Citrus, Ruth and I were discussing citrus. She told me, the best way to 'prevent' and 'kill' scale was to add 1 cap of Fish Emulsion in a 16oz sprayer filled w/water. Not long after, I purchased an Olive tree, 'different online nursery.' It arrived by mail, delivered at night. I removed the tree from its box, and set in-between two citrus trees. Just so you know, I inspect plants religiously, usually while misting. For some reason I didn't get to the olive for days.. Then, while spraying, I noticed a brown bump on the olive's leaf. On closer inspection, there were a multitude of brown bumps everywhere, upper and lower leaves, stems..gross looking things..Scale. I recalled Ruth's suggestion about Fish Emulsion, made up a bottle. By the way, two neighboring citrus branches had scale up and down branches nearest the olive tree. All three plants were thoroughly sprayed. The next day, all signs of scale was gone..Every last one. I checked and rechecked all three plants. She also recommended to apply a second application a week after the first. I did as told. Cath, this happened, I believe, in 2000; never had a scale problem since. My plants are foliar sprayed w/FE twice a year. The second dose, in autumn, before plants are brought indoors. However, I must warn you, FE has a fishy smell that lingers 2-3 days. There is an odorless type, but I've never used it so don't know if it's truely odor-free. I'd rather deal with a little smell than Scale devouring my plants. lol. FE is organic, so it won't burn leaves..It's actually a fertilizer, but since organic, it doesn't burn roots either. Since I don't fertilize during winter months, I figure spraying in autumn is plants last meal of the year, and a scale preventative. If you dare, lol, try the FE. It can't hurt, right? I too can think of plenty adjectives regarding our weather but would get the boot from GW. lol.. Good luck..hope you rid those suckers..Toni

While this is an old post I thought I would revive it. My two lychee, and three pineapple guava have been decimated by these weevils. After reading articles on how hard they are to control, a couple of months ago I decided to go out every evening and early morning to do battle armed with needlenosed pliers and a bright white LED flashlight. The bright light seems to stun or immobilize them long enough to crunch them. At first I was getting several dozen per day and now I am down to well less than 10 nightly. It's a pain but it only has taken me 3 or so forays per night at around 5 minutes each and my trees have rebounded nicely. I figure I am seruously interrupting their reproductive cycle, I have actually "interrupted" many pairs in what appeared to be the act of mating. What is not clear from what I read is WHERE their eggs are deposited. I read both in the ground AND on leaves but many agree that the young go into the ground to mature. So I recently sprinkled sevin dust at the base of the trees to see if I can get the cycle broken for good.

Hi, I think you might have Tomato Bugs. Yes, that is the name! I would suggest horticultural oil with insecticidal soap. Also, when I did a quick search, I saw an article suggesting Bt may work. Remy Here is a link that might be useful: tomato bug