Citrus mealybug on orchids
Orchids are one of the plants where mealybugs gather under the leaf sheaths, out of reach of a spray, so an inspection has to include looking into the sheaths rather than only at the leaf surfaces. Sticky honeydew, then black sooty mould on the leaves below, is often the first thing noticed. Heavier feeding yellows and deforms leaves, and flowers may drop.
At a glance
- Damage
- White cottony clusters in leaf axils, sticky honeydew below
- Type
- Sap feeding
- Settings
- Indoors, Under glass, Garden
- Threshold
- Any colony, including inside the leaf sheaths
- Release
- Cryptolaemus montrouzieri
- Rate
- 5 beetles per infested plant (Arbico), or 2–10 /m² per release across a bench (Koppert)
How to confirm it
Use a 10× lens. Citrus mealybug has a fringe of short, even wax filaments all round the body and, on many, a darker stripe down the back; two long tail threads instead point to longtailed mealybug. White cottony egg sacs in the colony fit citrus mealybug, which lays eggs — the longtailed species bears live young. A larger waxy insect that walks briskly may be a mealybug destroyer larva, not a pest.
Identification, lifecycle, degree days and every control option are on the full Citrus mealybug profile. Not sure it is this pest? Answer four questions about the damage.
Work it out
How many do I need?
Carries Cryptolaemus montrouzieri and orchids through so nothing is re-entered. Open the calculator →