pests HELP! Unknown creature - pest *** found the answer - Metcalfa Pruinosa

rghm1u20

rghm1u20

I had this alien creatures last year in my garden. Anyone know what this is, and how can be annihilated? Already here again...
Thanks for any advice.
 

 

 
 
I am pretty sure you can get rid of them by spraying with dish soap and water mixture, but wait for someone with more experience to comment.
 
Those are mealybugs. Basically look like cotton balls. I recently controlled aphids on one of my plants with a garlic/soap spray. It's basically an organic kill on contact spray, but won't always work for eggs of mealybugs. 
 
Also, take a wet cloth and basically "clean" your plants after. This will help get rid of the bodys or any possible survivors.
What You'll Need:
  • Three to four cloves of garlic
  • Mineral oil
  • Strainer or cheesecloth
  • Liquid dish soap
  • Water
  • Spray bottle
To make garlic oil spray, mince or finely chop three to four cloves of garlic, and add them to two teaspoons of mineral oil. Let this mixture sit for 24 hours. Strain out the garlic pieces, and add the remaining liquid to one pint of water. Add one teaspoon of liquid dish soap. This mixture can be stored and diluted as needed. When you need to spray, use two tablespoons of the mixture added to one pint of water in a spray bottle.
To use your garlic oil spray, first test by spraying an inconspicuous part of the plant to see if your mixture harms it at all. If there are no signs of yellowing or other leaf damage after a day or two, it is safe to use. If there is leaf damage, dilute the mixture with more water and try the test again. Once you have determined that it won't harm your plant, spray the entire plant, paying special attention to the undersides of leaves.
Credit: http://organicgardening.about.com/od/pestcontrol/a/spraysforaphids.htm
 
that looks like a mealybug. here is some info i found on them, hope this helps
Mealybug infestations appear on plants as tiny, soft-bodied insects surrounded by a fuzzy, white mess around the stems and leaf nodes. Mealybugs are common indoor pests.
The visible mealy bugs are actually the females. They are small (about one-tenth of an inch) insects with fringes around their bodies and, depending on the species, twin tails. Male mealy bugs are tiny winged insects that are rarely seen on plants. The main species of mealybugs are longtailed mealy bugs (Pseudococcus longispinus) and citrus mealy bugs (Planococcus citri. Control methods for both species are similar.
Mealy bugs are related to scale insects. They cause damage by sucking the juice from their host plants. Like many pests, mealy bugs tend to favor new growth. Over time, their damage causes the leaves to yellow and eventually drop from the plant. They can also cause fruits, vegetables, and flower buds to prematurely drop off. In a bad infestation, their waxy excretions (also known as honeydew) encourages the development of sooty mold fungus.
Female mealy bugs hide their eggs in the fluffy white excretions. Eggs hatch in about 10 days, producing crawlers or nymphs. The nymphs relocate to another part of the plant and spend another 4 to 8 weeks developing into adult form

How to Get Rid of Mealybugs
Like most pests, the best control for mealy bugs is defensive. Healthy, vigorous plants are less susceptible to infestation than weak, underpotted, and stressed plants. As a general rule, make sure your plants are healthy, and you're less likely to attract these annoying critters in the first place.
If you see mealy bugs on your plants, there are several control options:
  • Wash them away. Mealy bugs can be dislodged with a steady stream of water. Repeat the treatment as necessary. This is best for light infestations.
  • Insecticidal soap. Insecticidal soaps are available on the market (such as Safer's Insecticidal Soap), or you can make your own by using a dish detergent such as Ivory Liquid. Try to find a product free of perfumes and additives that might harm plants. Mix the soap in a weak concentration with water (starting a 1 teaspoon per gallon and increasing as necessary). Spray on plants.
  • Neem oil. Neem oil is derived from the neem tree. Use according to label instructions. In addition to its insecticidal properties, neem is also a fungicide and has systemic benefits (meaning the plant absorbs it so it can control insects it doesn't directly contact). According to the Environmental Protection Association, neem is safe for use on vegetables and food plants as well as ornamentals.
  • Kitchen insect spray. This all-purpose insect spray was developed by the editors of Organic Gardening magazine and came to me by way of Rodale's Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control. To make a batch, combine 1 garlic bulb, 1 small onion, and 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper in a food processor or blender and process into a paste. Mix into 1 quart of water and steep for 1 hour. Strain through a cheesecloth and add 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap. Mix well. The mixture can be stored for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
A number of stronger insecticides are approved for use against mealybugs, as well as beneficial insects such as beetles (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri) and parasitic wasps (Leptomastix dactylopii). However, stronger pesticides can cause a danger to pets and humans, and few indoor gardeners are keen on releasing beetles and wasps in their homes. These biological controls may be better suited to greenhouse cultivation.
If an infestation cannot be controlled after two or three weekly applications of insecticide, consider destroying the plant before the mealybugs spread to other plants in your home.
 
Not a mealybug despite the strong resemblance. It is a nymph of a type of treehopper. Despite their name, they can be found on all types of plants. Definitely a pest though!
 
Thank you all, guys, finally have the name of the beasts... Last year I have asked in a market specialized in gardening, insecticide, fungicides, whatever, and they told me they know this came from America, but have nothing to do against.
The problem is not so simply, they are not only on peppers (in fact no one on peppers), but last year they infested all kind of things in my garden, I have different berries (blueberry, strawberry, gooseberry, etc), also vines (grapes), trees.... Now I see them already on my apricot tree, on the backside of leaves, the tree is big (tall as a house), and I suppose this is only the beginning.........I would not use chemicals. Will try non-toxic solutions you wrote here.

Indiana_Jesse said:
Not a mealybug despite the strong resemblance. It is a nymph of a type of treehopper. Despite their name, they can be found on all types of plants. Definitely a pest though!
Click to expand...
 
Oh, not a mealybug...... Do you know the exact name of this???
 
Unfortunately there are several species of Treehopper/Planthopper with very similar looking nymphs, so it is difficult to say it is one or the other without close examination.
 
I am almost sure is Metcalfa pruinosa, I found some older articles about infestation with it in my city, back on 2011. I found it first time in 2012 in my garden.
 
could very well be, seems like everyone thinks its one thing or another, main thing is, its a pest and it can be killed. good luck with it. hope i never have to deal with anything like that, so far its just chipmunks i have to deal with.
 
looks like the same bug that during the infinite wisdom of my teenage years I tried smoking, yes, smoking, and believed it to have caused me hallucinations. :mouthonfire:
 
some of the dumb crap we do as kids
 
ikeepfish said:
looks like the same bug that during the infinite wisdom of my teenage years I tried smoking, yes, smoking, and believed it to have caused me hallucinations. :mouthonfire:
Click to expand...
 
Would you like, please, to come and smoke these too??? I think it would be the most nature-friendly solution. :P
 
I could say for sure now, it is Metcalfa pruinosa. I made many searches on the net, and all point to Metcalfa, the nimph, the adult. Also this is checked: "The whitish, comparatively flat planthopper can be separated easily from sedate mealybugs and cottony-cushion scales by placing a pencil point at the caudal end; the planthopper will jump like a leafhopper nymph." It is called in many way, but the scientific name is Metcalfa pruinosa, see here: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/shrubs/citrus_flatid_planthopper.htm
 
The recipe I posted will still work for whatever it is. possibly test to make sure it won't hurt your plant, or clean it off after. 
 
Mikkyd said:
Those are mealybugs. Basically look like cotton balls. I recently controlled aphids on one of my plants with a garlic/soap spray. It's basically an organic kill on contact spray, but won't always work for eggs of mealybugs. 
 
Also, take a wet cloth and basically "clean" your plants after. This will help get rid of the bodys or any possible survivors.
What You'll Need:
  • Three to four cloves of garlic
  • Mineral oil
  • Strainer or cheesecloth
  • Liquid dish soap
  • Water
  • Spray bottle
To make garlic oil spray, mince or finely chop three to four cloves of garlic, and add them to two teaspoons of mineral oil. Let this mixture sit for 24 hours. Strain out the garlic pieces, and add the remaining liquid to one pint of water. Add one teaspoon of liquid dish soap. This mixture can be stored and diluted as needed. When you need to spray, use two tablespoons of the mixture added to one pint of water in a spray bottle.
To use your garlic oil spray, first test by spraying an inconspicuous part of the plant to see if your mixture harms it at all. If there are no signs of yellowing or other leaf damage after a day or two, it is safe to use. If there is leaf damage, dilute the mixture with more water and try the test again. Once you have determined that it won't harm your plant, spray the entire plant, paying special attention to the undersides of leaves.
Credit: http://organicgardening.about.com/od/pestcontrol/a/spraysforaphids.htm
Click to expand...
 
rghm1u20 said:
 
Would you like, please, to come and smoke these too??? I think it would be the most nature-friendly solution. :P
Click to expand...
LOL as much as it would be cool to take a trip to Romania, something tells me that going to a country where I don't know the language and smoking some potentially hallucinogenic insects is a bad idea...I might end up roaming through the Carpathian wilderness naked screaming obscenities in Spanish and trying to kill wild boars with a rock for a "barbeque"
Might not go over well with the local police :rofl:
 
EDIT: this thread reminded me that my passport expired this month XD
 
Mikkyd said:
The recipe I posted will still work for whatever it is. possibly test to make sure it won't hurt your plant, or clean it off after. 
 
Click to expand...
Will try to use this, thank you.
However I read in many places that soapy water will make them only to fall down from the plants, and is only a temporary solution, because in 5-6 days they will be back (recolonization). Other solution is to use chemicals. But I wonder, what if I combine these two, and use the soapy water to make them fall down,and after that to use chemicals on them once down? I am speaking here about those I have in my apricot tree, and vine.
 
rghm1u20 said:
Will try to use this, thank you.
However I read in many places that soapy water will make them only to fall down from the plants, and is only a temporary solution, because in 5-6 days they will be back (recolonization). Other solution is to use chemicals. But I wonder, what if I combine these two, and use the soapy water to make them fall down,and after that to use chemicals on them once down? I am speaking here about those I have in my apricot tree, and vine.
Click to expand...
 
That's why there is garlic. It is a natural pesticide. I tested it on aphids I scraped onto aluminium foil. Also on an earwig crawling around my apartment. The earwig and aphids I tested on died. The garlic is what kills them
 
Mikkyd said:
 
That's why there is garlic. It is a natural pesticide. I tested it on aphids I scraped onto aluminium foil. Also on an earwig crawling around my apartment. The earwig and aphids I tested on died. The garlic is what kills them
Click to expand...
 
I made a try with this, but not much success....
After some searching on the net, I went to the store (where last year the guy told me just like this year, there is nothing to fight against this creature), asked for something based on Deltamethrin, and he gave me, asking to inform him if works. Went home, gave a good spray, checked next day - most of them died. Only few still moving a bit, however no more jumping. One day later - nothing survived. OK, went back to the store, told the guy, bught another 2 shots, will use them soon, because this Metcalfa start to spread to other plants, even on my grapes...
 
Mikkyd said:
 
That's why there is garlic. It is a natural pesticide. I tested it on aphids I scraped onto aluminium foil. Also on an earwig crawling around my apartment. The earwig and aphids I tested on died. The garlic is what kills them
Click to expand...
 
 
It might be worth using an aqueous extract (use water instead of mineral oil) and compare it with the oil extract, as there are several papers which have shown aq extracts of garlic showing decent insecticidal activity (there will be a different mix of compounds in each extract but both will contain different forms of the sulphur containing compounds which they believe are responsible for killing/repelling the insects). I haven't had any outbreaks yet (touch wood) or else I would give it a go, it would be interesting to find out.
 
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