what kind of pest were these???

[DirtyCoconuts]

Ghost by J Solo, on Flickr


i found this clump of what appeared to be 8 legged (arachnid) things in ONE leaf of ONE plant....i quickly grabbed the ISO and a qtip and they came out as one mass (more or less) and appeared to be dead ( although the ISO might have killed them right away)...no movement


anyone know what they are or how they spread? i have never seen them and they appeared on one part of one plant in my screened in patio, very strange.


i moved the plant OUT of the patio and set it pretty much isolated to monitor

[OrchidBro]

Looks like mealy bugs to me.

[DirtyCoconuts]

id say you are right....hopefully a one off but i doubt that...

strange they were trying to attack the toughest orchid i have lol you could bludgeon someone with a schom pbulb!!

[Connie Star]

They do look like mealies. Spray with safer soap every week of so to kill off the new ones. Did they turn pink with the alcohol?

[Ray]

The problem with eradicating mealies is that 1) topical sprays only kill adults, so eggs and larvae can mature and carry on the population after treatments, and 2) the bastards can populate the root system without you knowing it, so a topical spray never comes near them.

Purchase a decent systemic insecticide (I prefer acephate or imidicloprid), treat heavily - including wetting all plant surfaces and saturating the potting medium and repeat two more times at one-week intervals.

[DirtyCoconuts]

this will be easier than in most other cases as this is a schom on a cedar plaque with zero medium

thanks guys and gals

---------- Post added at 04:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:55 PM ----------

Bonide? is that a good choice?

[nzadro]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

this will be easier than in most other cases as this is a schom on a cedar plaque with zero medium

thanks guys and gals

---------- Post added at 04:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:55 PM ----------

Bonide? is that a good choice?

How did it work out with the systemic Bonide? I may have nymoh stage mealies on my mounted orchid and need a solution(literally!)
If you got the granules how did you use them on a cedar mount auccessfully?

[SouthPark]

Check this too DC. Click Here

One test is (aside from looking hehehe) ----- is poke them a bit. If they move relatively slowly, then most likely mealybug.

Fast movers can be ladybug larvae.

[DirtyCoconuts]

I have not used the pesticide.

I have been like a ninja assassin inspecting this and the one paph that I saw them on (two plants out of 200+, in different areas, one indoor and one on a patio????? ) with ISO and a qtip. I have searched the entire plants several times over the weeks and killed a few more but they have been reducing in frequency and I am satisfied they have not spread. If they return in vigor, I will try the systemic approach


All my plants have ants and spiders and lizard and sp I don’t like the idea of tinkering with nature

[Connie Star]

I eventually got rid of mine by using copious amounts of safer soap including soaking the medium and doing it regularly every 1-2 weeks. I don't use imidiclopid as it is toxic to native insects. You could use it in a green house but then it is not good for you. I put my orchids outside in the summer. If you're lucky, parasitic insects will go after the mealies there, but they'll be killed by systemic insecticides.