If you see velvety-looking white globule on your plants, you probably have an infestation of mealybugs. Mealybugs usually look like a white cottony substance that can be found on the plant stem, at the base of leaves or right in the middle of your plant.
Like many pests, mealybugs tend to favor new growth. Mealybugs suck sap from plant phloem, causing the leaves to yellow and eventually drop from the plant and they excrete sticky honeydew and wax, which reduces plant and fruit quality.
While papayas are its preferred host, the insect also affects a wide range of crops, including cassava, beans, coffee, pepper, melon, guava, tomato, eggplant, cotton, and jatropha, according to the IITA, implying that it could cause massive losses to economies if not controlled on time.
News reported is as follows:
Arunachal: Mealy bug attack hits tea farmers hard in Siang valley
A mosquito-like insect Helopeltis (Helopeltis theivora) commonly known as ‘mealy bug’ has created havoc in gardens along Assam-Arunachal boundary areas
By Prafulla Kaman │November 24, 2018
Tea planters in Siang Valley including East Siang, Lower Siang districts of Arunachal Pradesh and bordering Jonai (Assam),
who are already bracing for low production owing to lack of rainfall during summer season this year, have now been hit by mosquito bug menace.
A mosquito-like insect Helopeltis (Helopeltis theivora) commonly known as ‘mealy bug’ has created havoc in gardens along Assam-Arunachal boundary areas since October this year. Tea planters fear that if the pest attack is not controlled, it will severely affect the quantity and quality of production of the region.
“We have suffered lost of about 20 percent of the average annual production in tea leaf business this year due to pest infestation. The tender leaves of tea bushes are more prone to attacks from Helopeltis. We sprayed tea board recommended pesticides to control the bug attack but the situation goes unabated”, rued Nyodek Yonggam, a successful tea planter of Oyan village in East Siang district.
Helopeltis feed on the tender leaves and young buds of tea plants and it sucks mostly in the morning. The infested parts initially become brown and ultimately turned black and dry. According to scientists, a matured Helopeltis may create 100 sucking per day.
Mealybugs and leafroll virus in vineyards
Scout now to determine presence or absence of leafroll virus and its vector, mealybugs.
August 27, 2014 – Author: Rufus Isaacs, and Keith Mason, Michigan State University Extension, Department of Entomology, and Annemiek Schilder, MSU Extension, Department of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences
Mealybugs feeding on a grape trunk, exposed after stripping off some bark. This photo shows mealybugs in different stages of development, and note the sticky honeydew droplets excreted by these insects.
This 2014 summer, Michigan State University Extension staff have detected infestations of mealybugs in some southwest Michigan vineyards. Mealybugs are small, oval insects with a fuzzy, white covering, and they tend to occur in protected areas of the vine, especially under the loose bark. Some mealybugs can cause damage from their feeding and contamination of clusters, but others transmit viruses, making them much more of a concern.
And the worst part about the mealybug infestation is? Mealybugs are very difficult to manage with insecticides. Mealybugs are quick to develop resistance to synthetic pesticides. Various insecticidal soaps and sprays have proven failed against the mealybugs. So what can be done to protect your plants?
An effective and green solution needs to be devised to counter this destruction and C Tech Corporation has such a solution!
CombirepelTM is an extremely low toxic and low hazardous insect and pest repellent produced by C Tech Corporation. It can be best described as an insect aversive repellent. It is effective against multiple other insects and pests like thrips, beetles, bugs, armyworms, etc. It works on the mechanism of repellence and therefore does not kill the target as well as non-target species.
Being low toxic, it does not harm the soil and environment. Combirepel™ can be added to a thin agricultural film to protect plants and other crops.
Our product available in the form of masterbatch can be incorporated into polymeric applications like the tree guards and fences, agricultural films and mulches, irrigation pipes, etc. to keep these pests away from the trees and crops.
The liquid concentrate can be mixed in paints and be applied on the concrete fence around the gardens, farms, and buildings. The liquid concentrate can be applied to the interior and exterior of storage rooms used to store grains and other agricultural produce.
The product available in the form of lacquer can be used as a direct application and can be applied on the tree trunks, wooden fences around trees, crops, and farms, already installed pipes and polymeric parts from agricultural equipment like motors, tractors, etc.
To keep the mealybugs at the bay CombirepelTM pest repellent spray can be sprayed.
Contact us at technical.marketing@ctechcorporation.com if you have problems with these tiny bugs and other insects.
We have a solution for you for more details about our product just head on to our websites-
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