A stinking mealy bug!
 

Last weekend I found one very small mealy bug on my Seiryujishi!!! I've seen photos of huge ones, eeeew! I was very surprised and not at all happy. I got it on a toothpick and killed the little bastard with ISA and checked the plant thoroughly, found nothing more. I unpotted it but did not remove it from its moss mound. I've continued to check it twice daily since and I've found nothing. The bug was on the same fan that had recently flowered near the old spike. I have isolated the Seiryujishi from my other plants.

I have only ever had mealy bug once before ( One bug) on a Masdevallia, well over a year ago. Same situation, killed the bug, waited and checked daily, never had another bug and that Masdevallia is happy and healthy today.

I've no idea where this lone mealy originated from, I've not added any new plants recently, sadly. The Seiryujishi looks fine, new roots, new fans growing and it's flowers lasted about a month.

I found an old thread here where Matt had treated his Neofinetia for mealy bugs using 1:1 distilled water/hydrogen peroxide. I really don't want to blast this Seiryujishi with harsh treatments nor do I want an infestation!

It has been a week without any sign of bugs, any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

A good rule of thumb is: You can't have just one.

When this happens there are three routes people take:

Observe and hope. This gives the bugs time to spread, unseen, to more plants. Be prepared to treat as soon as more are seen.

Treat with inadequate treatments, hoping to avoid harsh chemicals. This doesn't work. I don't know what ISA is. Isopropyl or ethyl alcohol, neem oil, hydrogen peroxide, or others, may kill adults, but not eggs.

Treat with a pesticide. Other plants almost certainly have mealybugs. You need to treat your whole collection, and all your houseplants, too.

Because it's warming up, you can afford to wait and see. Mealybugs on plants during the cold season can kill them quickly. Mealybugs on actively growing plants take longer to kill. And if any of your plants "should" be growing strongly, but aren't, they probably have mealybugs.

First, I would urge you NOT to use hydrogen peroxide. Since you want to avoid harsh chemicals, this is one to avoid - it can damage roots, soft tissue, and growing tissue.

Just like you can't eat one Lay's potato chip, you can't have just one mealybug. You may only SEE one, but there are more. Now, I'm like you in not wanting to use harsh treatments with my plants but there are two insects I'll gladly use total thermonuclear warfare against - mealies and scale. I would get a good, systemic insecticide and treat everything - possibly even cats and dogs living in my house and maybe even myself. I HATE these critters. I want them all dead.

As others said, there is no such thing as one mealy bug. The immature crawler stage is almost too small to notice but it can travel at least several yards/meters looking for a tasty new home, or much further on you or anything you may carry between plants. Adults can hide on roots deep in the pot or in the tightest crevice under a sheath at the base of a leaf. They have probably been lurking at a low level since the Masdevallia incident over a year ago. Eggs are resistant, but adults or crawlers aren't hard to kill IF you can see them and get to them, but those hidden ones are very good at avoiding you and your spray or swab. A systemic insecticide gets them anywhere they feed. Other than that you need extreme vigilance, frequent treatments and a great deal of luck to control them. Even then, the first time you're sick or go on vacation and don't pay attention for 10 days you can come back to an infestation that your plants will never recover from. It happened to me twice.

Imidacloprid or any other neonicotinoid is the way to go. Fast, effective and safe under some easy precautions.

The larvae are almost certainly in the medium of that plant and others. I don't think you are doing your plants any favors to hold off on a systemic and leave them fighting off the bugs for an extended period of time. Ask me how I know.

Thank you all for your replies! It looks like I need to get busy with some Imidacloprid. I certainly don't want this to get worse and I would hate to lose any plants.

When there are recurring problems with insects or infectious agents, it is best to rotate treatments. Pests of all kinds become resistant to pesticides. There are now super weeds resistant to RoundUp, and fungus resistant to some fungicides. The problem of drug-resistant bacteria attacking humans is approaching a critical point.

I hate those darn things! The ones that keep plaguing me are resistant to the Bayer systemic so I have been using D.E. and neem oil and thought I had gotten rid of them. A few weeks ago, they exploded on my tropical trees. I put them outside, doused them well with neem oil and, last week, released lacewing larvae and lady bugs. That should take care of them. I plan to spray my tropicals heavily with Malathion this fall before I bring them inside. If I still see any...Sevin.

I hope the Bayer product I've purchased will treat these damn bugs and not harm my Neo. It does not contain Imidacloprid. I purchased Bayer Advanced Rose & Flower insect killer. It lists mealy bugs as one of many insects it kills. The active ingredient is Cyfluthrin 0.003%

It kills on contact and protects up to 14 days. For severe infestations, repeat every 7 to 14 days.

Anyone ever use this Bayer product?