pest name plz

[Shiffdaddy]

So i know this isnt an orchid thing but i'm fairly sure there might be somebody who can tell me what specifically this pest is...

Looks to me like a horrendous case of scale on my lemon tree and i'm really worried its going to migrate to my orchids

But then again this is like no scale that i have yet to come across, so maybe it is another insect larvae? idk i hope somebody can help.

Ben

[Shiffdaddy]

And just to add, this was only on one branch of the lemon tree and there were ants all over it sucking sap would be my guess.. Which also makes me believe it is scale

[crazymonkie]

That is definitely scale.

I actually cleared off a moderately bad infestation of exactly the same species from a medium sized variegated Agave americana. Took me about two hours of picking and washing. I'm not sure how rough it'll be on your plants- Agaves are nearly indestructible, unless they get cochineal scale chewing on them. That's more a problem for Opuntias, though.

[Shiffdaddy]

That's what I figured . I was put there for the last hour and a half smashing every one I could and then after there were no more I could visibly see I blasted it with a hose quite hard. :-/ I'm just hoping none of it gets to my orchids. Those are more of my concern lol

[crazymonkie]

That's not the worst news, unfortunately. The really bad news is that the young ones move and like to hide in leaf internodes. Still, what I did with them when I found them was scrape them off (well, POP them off) with a thin knife. I'm precise with blades, so I could do that... all the while dodging the sharp Agave spines. They were used for centuries as sewing needles and fish hooks, if you want an idea of how spiny those things are.

I'd say observe your orchids very carefully, check under leaves and under the top layers of mix, get a flashlight if you need the light, and grab the young ones with tweezers. I'm not sure what sort of damage the little ones can do, but with the bigger ones, you're better off just popping off the tops and letting the corpses naturally callus the damaged tissue. Otherwise you'll end up with a lot of bruising or, in bad cases, necrotic tissue.

[Leafmite]

I use cotton balls dipped in alcohol. I have a bay laurel that gets scale every year. Each week, I have to check it over. The neighboring plants are never affected. I lost the first bay laurel to scale a few years ago. Water just didn't do the trick. The scale is on the 'wood', hiding behind new buds, along the leaf creases and anywhere else. It is difficult to get them all. The alcohol really knocks them back. Once I put the plants out in the spring, lady bugs take over.
The ants might possibly be living in the pot. They always try to colonize my citrus pots. I soak the entire plant overnight in the laundry tub to get rid of the ants. Good luck.

[Shiffdaddy]

Ok, thanks you guys. Ugh such bad news..