Croton Scale VS Mealy Bug

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

I have had a consistent problem with Croton Scale on a few of my plants. They were small plants and isolated from other crotons so I was not too concerned. I would spray a hose on them once in a while, blowing off most of them.

This past week I noticed the scale were all deader than a door nail, all dried up and flaking off. In their place, however, was a smaller infestation of mealy bugs.

What happened? Are mealy bugs territorial? Are they part time scale predators? Did a new species of ants kill all the scale and move in their own white flock of mealy bugs?


Anybody ever see this before?

 

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Look what I found:

http://www.bugsforbugs.com.au/product/32

I guess I have Cryptolaemus on my Crotons eating my scale.

Here is a picture off of this website.

 

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Here they are happily eating my croton scale.

 

[Moose]

Yes Jerry, those are scale predators and they really tear up the scale. The lady beetles would show up only after a heavy infestation and could never keep up from my observations. This predator looks like a giant mealy bug but they feed on the scale not the plant.

If anyone sees these "giant mealy bugs" do not chemically treat your croton. They will multiply and eliminate the scale. We do not want to erradicate this predator. Oh our prayers have been answered - something that will eat this F$%^#*g scale finally.

Here are some shots of a madam Fernand Kohl that Jeff Searle and I found with the "predator mealy bug". We spent quite a bit of time going over the entire plant finding evidence that the scale was in fact losing the war. There was some sooty mold and some growth tips that had been set back by the scale that were now scale free. They seem to attack in mass.

 

[Crazy for Crotons]

Perhaps we're getting the natural predator we've been hoping to find.

 

[Jeff Searle]

Perhaps we're getting the natural predator we've been hoping to find.

EXACTLY!!! This was the "talk" a few years back that we were hoping was going to happen.

 

[pocomo]

I held off on the imadocloprid and sprayed with organics for weeks but I couldn't take it any more so I applied it on every croton I had. Now the beetles are showing up. So far they don't seem bothered. I can only hope they will be able to maintain a population even with the insecticide. Oh well!

 

[Moose]

Look what I found:

http://www.bugsforbugs.com.au/product/32

I guess I have Cryptolaemus on my Crotons eating my scale.

Here is a picture off of this website.

I wish this predator would establish itself in the Mooseland.

 

[Rags]

S#!T........ SMH

you mean to say all this time I've been destroying the Cryptolaemus larva....... Arrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!