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Mealybug Destroyer

Cryptolaemus montrouzieri

Published on Project Noah
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33.1468, -117.009

Field Notes

Description:

White, fuzzy looking insects. Ants were all over them.

Habitat:

Ants are infesting these young lemons along with these white insects, aphids and scales.

Notes:

The adult beetle spotting is at: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/7350646

Species ID Suggestions

Mealy Bug Destroyer

Cryptolaemus montrouzieri

Comments (17)

Thank you misako.hill! Sorry my notification was turned off for a while :)
Goody...look hard before you decide to destroy an organism!
Mealybug destroyers do an amazingly good job of cleaning up unwanted pests!
I admittedly cut the lemons off the tree and put them in the organic waste bin. After seeing the corrected ID, I quickly retrieved it and put them on back on a tree :)
FYI here's what a wooly aphid looks like: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/6891233
Wow, now it seems that I WANT this on my plant :) Interesting that they were introduced from Australia. I'll update the ID now. Thank you ceherzog!
Here's one I spotted on citrus in Florida http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/6200003
This Mealybug Destroyer is a beneficial insect, the larvae of a Mealybug Ladybird. Hope you didn't kill it...on your video it appeared to be eating aphids...it also eats mealybugs and scale insects.
Thank you all for your help! It looks to be the Wooly Aphid and the ants love the honeydew :)
I think auntnance meant to suggest woolly aphids. If it's an aphid or scale insect, it could be that the ants are 'farming' them for honeydew. Look up 'ants and aphids' for more information about how that works.
try to search about the ants. when it comes from infesting through ants, you schould be able to find something on the i-net

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