I have had my lime tree for 2 years and recently it has been plagued by these white bugs on it's truck, braches and leaves. I've washed them off with mild soap and water. Can anyone help me identify these bugs and teach me how to get rid of them and keep them from coming back? My tree lives indoors during the late fall/winter/early spring. I live in Ohio and the local nurseries do not have much help to offer. Pictures attached. Thank-you
looks like mealy bugs. treat with a q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol. make sure to rub all along the branches and get in the crevises where the leaf meets the stem. treat again in 10-14 days to catch whatever eggs hatched that where missed the first time. check again in another couple of weeks for any stragglers. also, move this so it's not near any other plants and check the other plants and treat if needed.
Looks like cottonycushion scale as pictured according to A Guide to Scale Insect Identification which appears in the link Ron provided.
I have never seen an infection of Cottony Cushion scale on a home tree that bad. You should have controled the insect at the first sighting. Using a Q-tip with alcohol is useless in this case. Horticultural Oils, which are normally sprayed to control citrus scales, do not give very good control for Cottony Cushion scale. You need to go to the nursery and purchase some Orthene, or Malation, and use as directed. When using Orthene on Cottony Cushion scale you will need to add a surfactant. Horticultural Oil can be used as the surfactant. - Millet
well, ron had it right in the first place. eek!! i guess there are more types of scale bugs than i'm familiar with!! i have to go find another post i made - i think i may have given incorrect info...
Thank-you everyone for your help. Now does anyone know where I can get some Vedalia Beetles? I'd prefer to solve this problem without chemicals... but it looks like Vedalia Beetles are not commerically available, and Ohio is certainly not the same climate as Australia or California. Thanks again, Andy
By the time you locate Vedalla beetles and get them to Ohio, with as bad an infection your tree has, your tree is going to be history. If you do not wish to use an insecticide, then you are going to have to hand pick off ever bug, or you can throw the tree away or burn it. You can take the tree outside, get a hose with a brass adjustable nozzel, and at least very carefully blast a lot of them off using a forceful water spray. - Millet
Millet, thanks for your response. I hear where Andy is coming from - and I think he is unrealistic. Perhaps "importing" some Vedalla beetles into Ohio will upset the echo system there? That has long been common practice to bring in foreign species. That really upsets the local echo systems due to the fact variety of beetle (or whatever) may have no natural predators in its new location. The state of Hawaii had / has big problems with this sort of thing. Come to think of it...starlings and the American Bull frogs give us grief too, Just to name a few. (I guess you could place Wal Mart in that category as well !) I have never seen anything like this. BTW, Great Photos. Greg
Once again thank-you everyone for your help. The beetle question was not meant to be serious. I wanted to update everyone on the progress. After sharing this thread with my former roommates (who threatened to sue for custody) I deceided to take action. Plus the weather in Ohio is finally warm enough to get the lime tree outside for the day. I sprayed as many of the scales off as possible with my hose (which worked very well), then picked others off as best I could. Next the chemical warfare wing of my attack was started. My first treatment of Orthene is on. Also I've added many areas of double sided tape to keep any survivors from spreading too far. I'm planning on weekly treatments for a while. Possible alternating between the orthene andmalathion. I'll keep you all updated, hopefully with new pictures when all is said and done. Thanks again for the help, Andy
Andy, 2 or 3 treatments should solve the problem for you. Its amazing to me how these critters end up infesting plants in a foreign environment. This year I have not had scale or spider mite problems at all. With the exception of scale on 1 lemon - which one application of light horticultural oil and a dash of insecticide seemed to cure the problem before it got out of hand. Greg
