Scale related insect

[KlUe]

Hi all,

Just finished scraping off the scale that recently infested (again) my Viridis, and noticed this strange looking bug which was hanging around the ants and scale infestations.

Just taken a macro pic of it for closeup viewing, and was surprised at how intricate the red markings were on it (however detrimental it is to my plants I don't know), but thought it'd be worth posting up here

Anyone know what its called and what it does exactly? Probably feeds the ants or something.

Peace,

Klue

[apothecary]

Wow no idea what it is, but that is intense!

[Evil Genius]

What a cool insect! Looks almost like seafood! bye

[sascacheuan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planthopper

http://bugguide.net/node/view/119313/bgpage

http://bugguide.net/node/view/112866/bgpage

good image ;).

Edited September 15, 2007 by sascacheuan

[incognito]

aphid? they come in heapsa funky colors. enter the ladybird.

really cool doco out there called macrocosm (spelling?) that shows some ladybirds going to town on a heapa aphids, whilst their ant protectors are trying valiantly to protect them. a full on war. it was a toss up between this scene and the snails copulating sensuously as my fav.

fairly sure its an aphid.

[mark80]

I get em' all the time.

Don't know what they are but they leave eggs on the under side of leaves. a finger smosh gets rid of em'. They love my brugs...

[ThunderIdeal]

i thought sascacheuan got pretty darn close. it's a nymph, and it's a hemipteran but not an aphid, something called a planthopper which basically grows into a set of wings.

[MarsOfOld]

Just finished scraping off the scale that recently infested (again) my Viridis

What do you use to kill the scales? I've just tried using beneficial nematodes. Still too soon to tell if it worked. Any anti-scale advice would be much appreciated...

[KlUe]

What do you use to kill the scales? I've just tried using beneficial nematodes. Still too soon to tell if it worked. Any anti-scale advice would be much appreciated...

I use my pocket knife and gently scrape them off with the blade. Be concise though because if you miss any they'll come back again in numbers.

Also I've heard white oil/water can help very well once u've scraped off.

[planthelper]

i use an old toothbrush for this purpose, but please remeber that scales or in fact any pest has probably got some underlying reasons. what i mean is, fight the pest, but aswell look for what you might be able to improof for the plant enviromently. the action which will help you and the plant, might be a very easy one, but as long you are not taking it, you will continue to fight the windmills. sometimes the solution could be as easy as removing the scale, and than moving the plant into a less stressfull enviroment. in othe words, by moving the plant more into the shade, you will help the plant in the long run more than by constant pest controll. sometimes pests can be fought by increasing or decreasing one or more factors which are involved in plant growing, so next time instead of spraying again and again, for let's say "mites", with a toxic substance, just increase the humidety of your plants enviroment.

Edited September 29, 2007 by planthelper

[Storm crow]

To get rid of scales you use a mixture of detergent and water and spray it on the affected areas. Basically the soapy liquid gets under their protection and chokes them. Charming stuff but at least it is relatively non-toxic.

And well done on the ID Sascacheuan

[ThunderIdeal]

yeah man, next time i photograph a crazy aussie six-legger i know who to come to for ID.