It's Mealtime

- Diane Norris

Mealybugs are related to scale insects. The male and female are sexually dimorphic, meaning they have a completely different form and structure. Females remain nymph-like their entire lives, are wingless and often retain legs and can move. Males, on the other hand, change from nymphs into winged wasp like adults and are short-lived. They don’t feed at all as adults and have only one job to do in their brief lives: to fertilise the females.

The main species of mealybugs that concern veggie gardeners are long-tailed mealybugs (Pseudococcus longispinus) and citrus mealybugs (Planococcus citri). Organic control methods are similar for both.

FEMME FATALE