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Mealy Bug

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:23 am
by boonut
Well... I found the dreaded mealy bug today on my Schizostachyum Brachycladum. Not good. Can someone tell me if this is the bad one... Palmicultor lumpurensis

I found some research at: http://spdn.ifas.ufl.edu/Field_Key_to_C ... lorida.pdf

These are pictures I took about 10 minutes ago...
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RE: Mealy Bug

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 2:20 am
by CadyG
Spray the hell out of those suckers with horticultural oil.

RE: Mealy Bug

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 3:45 am
by Roy
Boonut,

These pictures from Bamboocraft show the same thing as what you have and the ID it as Palmicultor lumpurensis (see images in the link below).

http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showg ... hp?cat=535

Now I don't agree with Bamboocraft and neither does the Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Plant Industries Division. I have had this same mealy bug ever since I started propagating bamboo almost 30 years ago. It does not kill new bamboo shoots, but it does like to hide in the branch complements and excrete a white sugary powder which mold grow on and causes what is known as black sooty mold. About 3 years ago, I had the Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Plant Industries Division take samples of "my" mealybug and the report came back that it was the Noxious Bamboo Mealybug--Antonina pretiosa.

Bamboocraft had this set of images and they call this the Noxious Bamboo Mealybug--Antonina pretiosa.

http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showg ... hp?cat=536

The images they have at the link above are not of the same type of mealy bug that I've had for the last almost 30 years. I have never seen any of the sticky spiral threads that are evident on these images and I've seen tons of mealy bugs my bamboo over the last 30 years. I would be willing bet that I could find one or more mealy bug on any piece of tropical bamboo I see here in Florida.

From what I understand about Palmicultor lumpurensis, this mealy bug does most of its damage to new shoots and not much harm after that.

Here's a close-up images of "my" mealy bug:

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RE: Mealy Bug

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 5:26 pm
by igrowbamboo
Has anyone tried bayer tree & shrub insect control?
it contains Merritt for mealybugs.

RE: Mealy Bug

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 5:59 pm
by boonut
I use the Bayer product. I just add a little more than what they call for.

RE: Mealy Bug

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:46 am
by marcat
Bayer makes Merit. I would like to know how effedtive it is with mealy bugs on bamboo. Can not find any references to it. But then again nothing else seems to work well.
MarCat

RE: Mealy Bug

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 1:20 am
by boonut
I just put it on almost all my bamboo... both in pots and in the ground. I did not spray foliage... just put it in the ground as directed and watered it in.

I didn't use it on bamboo that I have never seen any signs of any kind of mealy bug.

No signs since I put the chemical out... I will let you know in time how it works down here.

I have never noticed it on my Schizostachyum Brachycladum until this year... so that might be something to take into consideration... once you have it on one, there is a good chance of spreading... even to bamboo not usually known to get mealy bugs.

RE: Mealy Bug

Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:54 am
by Roy
Finally got around to seeing Palmicultor lumpurensis up close. The picture was taken in northeast Tampa on a B. oldhamii shoot and under the culm sheaths. Nasty little bugger. Much worse than the older type of mealy bug that just seems to cause the black sooty mold. I know one day I'm going to eventually have it in my backyard. All new plants to my place I drench with poisons for several months.


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RE: Mealy Bug

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 2:47 pm
by mike best
I always see the fire ants and carpenter ants on my bamboos and I encourage it because I know they both are voracious meat eaters. They also hang out under the culm sheaths with the Mealy Bug. I don't know if they eat them and I know they can not get to some of them deep under the culm sheath but looks like they are eating something. I would be surprised if they passed up a juicy Mealy.

Re: Mealy Bug

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 6:49 pm
by SillyNilly
I have these Mealey bugs all over my backyard. First time I've ever seen them. They terrorized a potted Bamboo plant so badly that I ended up cutting it down to the dirt and disposing of the plant. It's coming back nicely, but these bugs are everywhere, and I have a battle on my hands. I'm using Neem Oil but it's not working that great. Someone suggested dabbing a Q-Tip in Listerine and that kills them almost instantly. This can be a time consuming adventure. I may just try putting the Listerine in a spray bottle and see how that works. Wish me luck!

Re: Mealy Bug

Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 1:44 am
by sfrangu
I've had a very bad spider mites infestation of one of my Plumerias and Neem oil didn't help, so bad it was. So I did some research and I found this product with good reviews: http://www.spectracide.com/Products-and ... rdens.aspx It says that it kills mealy bugs too. I got rid of the spider mites with only 2 applications of this insecticide.