Bonsai Mealybug

They attach themselves to areas of the plant that are hidden and feed off them causing them to wither.

Bonsai mealybug. Mealybug this in my opinion is one of the worst bugs in bonsai. If you don t have ladybugs present you can order them online and have them shipped to your home. Most of the us has ladybugs native to each state. We will have to apply the pesticide again in 7 10 days as the mealybugs may have laid eggs on our bonsai tree.

The insects hide within the little balls and are protected by wax like coverings. Ladybugs will eat spider mites and aphids both of which are bonsai pests. They are small about one tenth of an inch insects with fringes around their bodies and depending on the species twin tails. Mealybugs or woolly aphids as they are called are small white insects that are usually found in warm and moist areas.

They secrete a cotton like layer of wax and look like they are covered with flour hence the name. Mealybugs are another common bonsai pest. Mealybug infestations appear on plants as tiny soft bodied insects surrounded by a fuzzy white mess around the stems and leaf nodes. In this case leaves may be pale sometimes grayish or wilted despite regular fertilizer and watering.

If it moves you can bet it s root mealy bugs not mycorrhiza. They are scaled insects which eat sap from the leaves of plants. The fastest and easiest way is to use pesticide especially if there is a heavy infestation on our bonsai tree. It can be hard to find hard to kill and usually only attacks trees that are already sick or stressed in some way.

Maybe the plant growth has slowed down and or flowering has ceased. Of course this stuff is toxic and we must be careful during mixing and application. So you can easily attract more of them to help control the spider mite population. 1 the visible mealybugs are the females.

Mealy bugs tend to hide in the leaf axils roots or any cool dark place where they can suck the life juices from your prize trees undisturbed.