Can mealybugs survive in potting medium in a sealed bag?

[msarro]

Basically the title. I still consider myself a beginner (been growing only for about a year).

I recently purchased new media from an online retailer. I casually repotted about 4 plants into the media without thinking about it.

However yesterday I noticed that one of the plants I had repotted had small white spots all over the place. Another one of the plants, I found a piece of bark filled with white... blobs. They appear to have come off simply from the impact of going into the trashcan, or else I would post a photo. I know that young mealybugs are windborne based on the info I found.

I am now monitoring those other plants I repotted to see if more little spots appear.

What I'm not sure of is if it is actually a bug, or if it could potentially be bits of sphagnum moss. (Don't laugh!) The white spots don't appear to be moving which I assume juvenile mealybugs would do.

I have a small digital microscope coming today to hopefully get some better photos. But what i'm seeing looks very similar to the juveniles in this photo:



In the meantime, I was curious - if the lifecycle of mealybugs is 2-3 weeks long, would they be able to survive in a bag of media if I seal it? Or would they die off?

Is it still safe to use the potting media if I cook it with either boiling water, or by putting it into an oven?