The usual suspectsA roundup of typical mealybug types and the efforts used to eradicate them

摘要

Several years ago, Entomologist and Executive Director for the American Public Gardens Association Dr. Casey Sclar found that adult female mealybugs can live without a host plant an average of 10 to 19 days, and crawlers (newly hatched mealybugs) continue emerging up to 45 days after. For anyone who has battled mealybugs unsuccessfully — and you have company — this explains a lot.Other reasons they're difficult to control include a preference for protected, narrow or tight spaces where sprays don't reach, as well as high reproductive rates, a repellent waxy coating, and (we suspect) an ability to cope with systemic insecticides.Some species live on roots or part-time below ground. I have found them on fallen plant debris and have confirmed Sclar's observations in commercial greenhouses.