Mealy bug

The family of mealy bugs contains over 2,000 insects that feed on plants and trees in temperate regions and greenhouses. They are named mealy for the powdery, waxy, white coating on their bodies. This family is one of the several families of scale insects.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Hemiptera

Family: Pseudococcidae

Genus: Various (see below)

Species: Various (see below)

Mealybugs form the family Pseudococcidae, which is one of many families of insects called scale insects. These 2,000 species are found worldwide on plants in temperate regions and greenhouses. They are members of the order of insects called bugs. The distinguishing feature of bugs is their long, beak-like rostrums containing piercing and sucking mouthparts. The insects with these mouthparts are responsible for serious and widespread damage to trees, plants, and crops each year.

Mealybugs have soft, flattened, slender, oval-shaped bodies. Their bodies have ring-like segments like those of other insects. The bodies of many insects are separated into three parts, which are the head, the thorax, or mid-body section, and the abdomen, or tail section. Although they have three sections, mealybugs’ bodies are not clearly defined. From the tips of their abdomens extend thread-like filaments, or hairs, which may be of varying lengths between species. They may have a pair of club-shaped sensory flight instruments attached to their bodies. Covering their entire bodies is a mealy, or powdery, wax. This is the source of their name. Mealybugs have many body and wax colors, although white is common. Many mealy bugs are around five or six millimeters long. Their heads may have segmented antennae.

Large, compact, colonies of mealy bugs make their homes on plants and trees in temperate regions and greenhouses. They feed on the saps and juices by sticking their long, tubular rostrums into the roots, leaves, and stems of fruits. Gardeners use insecticides to kill pests that cause fruits to drop before they are ripe and cause a plant disease called blight, or wilt. This disease is like dirty mold on plants and trees. They also leave sticky deposits of waste called honeydew. Outside greenhouses, predators of mealy bugs include ladybird beetles and predatory insects. Sometimes plant-eating insects eat mealybugs and other scale insects.

Reproduction among mealy bugs is similar to that of other scale insects. Females can reproduce large numbers quickly, and each female may have hundreds of young each year. Although males may mate with females in some species, most females reproduce by parthenogenesis. Parthenogenesis means the eggs develop without being fertilized by the males' sperm. Some females lay up to 200 to 600 eggs inside cotton-like sacks that hatch after 4 to 6 days. Others give birth to live young, which is called ovoviviparous reproduction. The females in some species die after laying eggs. The young often hibernate in their eggs or as newly hatched nymphs. They have about three instars, or growth stages, before adulthood. In each instar, they molt, or shed their skins, and grow new ones. Some species have a few instars, enter cocoons, and become adults. They reach maturity after 20 to 40 days.

The lifespan of mealy bugs ranges from around 70 days to 7 to 10 weeks.

Species include:

Citrus mealybug Planococcus citri

Comstock mealybug Pseudococcus comstocki

Cotton or solenopsis mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis

Long-tailed mealybug Pseudococcus longispinus

Mana scale Trabutina mannipara

Papaya mealybug Paracoccus marginatus

Pink, grape, or hibiscus mealybug Maconellicoccus hirsutus

Vine mealybug Planococcus ficus

Bibliography

"Mealybug." A-Z Animals, 30 May 2023, a-z-animals.com/animals/mealybug. Accessed 1 May 2024.

Vallie, Sarah. "Mealybugs: What to Know." WebMD, 17 Jan 2023, www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/mealybugs-what-to-know. Accessed 1 May 2024.