Mealy Bug Control
© Frances Michaels
These small, white, powdery-looking insects are sapsuckers that attack a wide range of plants including
indoor plants, citrus and custard apples. Adults are generally 3-4 mm long. Ants can be responsible for
moving them from plant to plant. The presence of mealy bugs will also encourage black sooty mould to appear
on the leaves.
Suggested Organic Strategies
Citrus Care Kit
- Use horticultural glues around tree
trunks to aid biological control of mealy bugs, as ants defend these pests from attack by their natural
enemies to maintain their supply of honeydew.
- Spraying with chemical insecticides often encourages the mealy bugs as the sprays will kill off all
their natural enemies.
- Natural enemies include wasp parasitoids and ladybeetles. The adult wasps feed on nectar, planting a
Good Bug Mix will help attract these 'good bugs'.
- Beneficial insects are available commercially to control this pest from
Bugs for Bugs ph 07 41654663.