misteek Posted November 1, 2008 (edited) hello everyone, i meant to do this a while back but completely forgot. its like little scabby things with blackish dots in the middle. i wasnt really worried about it until i found out it was on one of my other peruvians. anyway could somebody give me a push in the right direction as to what this is and what can be done about it? thanks guys Edited November 1, 2008 by misteek Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PD. Posted November 1, 2008 Hard to say for sure but it looks like some mealy bugs on there. Just find the nearest bridgesii spine, snap it off and proceed to stab the lil bastids until there are none left. Then for gods sake man, water that poor plant. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conan Troutman Posted November 1, 2008 (edited) Hard to say for sure but it looks like some mealy bugs on there. Just find the nearest bridgesii spine, snap it off and proceed to stab the lil bastids until there are none left. Then for gods sake man, water that poor plant. Yeh Im with Pd on this one (for once ) specially the bridge spine make sure u smear some of their funky guts around as warning to the other hairy lil farkers.. Edited November 1, 2008 by Conan Troutman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
incognito Posted November 1, 2008 scale , get an old toothbrush and scrub them off. once they are off they cant reatatch and they die. thats one thirsty pedro. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
misteek Posted November 1, 2008 yes! i found out what it is. it's cactus scale (Diaspis echinocacti). i had a look on google images and thats defiantly it. if i scrub it off though won't it just come back? i remember i wiped all of it off on the original plant that had it (the peruvianus in the photo is a pup off it) and it just came back a week after i'd do it. the infection got so bad on that plant that it died . i don't want that to happen again! so does anyone have any tips ect. or whatever they've found works? or will just have to continually scrub it from now on to keep it off? thanks for the help guys oh and it drinks more water than i do!!! i noticed it looked a bit discloured a few weeks back and have been watering it every day since!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
misteek Posted November 1, 2008 ok i've done a bit of reasearch. found out that if i'm going to get it off with a toothbrush (they suggested a tooth pick so i think i'll stab them first - then scrub them off ) that i have to cover the soil otherwise they will just climb back on. i also read that one of scales major predators is ladybugs. guess i'll be catching ladybugs tomorrow! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PD. Posted November 1, 2008 (edited) If you see these things misteek, grab em. They are ladybug larvae, heaps of them around atm if you in vic, they dont have wings so you can catch them, let them loose on your plants and enjoy watching them destroy aphids and mealys without watching them fly away. They work EXTREMELY well hunting down the pests on the new growth of cacti and seedlings. Then they transform into the pupa then finally a ladybug. wagtails. If not, GO BRIDGIE SPINE Edited November 1, 2008 by PD. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
~shameless~ Posted November 1, 2008 After you have got all the scales off the cacti, try growing the cacti in a diffrent spot, try for more sun and better ventilation, a more expossed location - scales insects ussually challenge plants that are a bit stressed or not growing at thier full potential. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
incognito Posted November 2, 2008 i was of a mind that the scale that u can see (i,e suction cappy thing with the dot in the middle) is the adult stage of the insect, if u scrub them of they will die. its in the pupal stage that they can walk around and reatatch. so what ive always thought is that if u are resiliant and brush of the scale u see u will break the cycle. i would like to know at what stage of their lifecycle they breed, and whether or not ants 'farm; them like they do aphids.(i know ants feed from them but do they actually take them underground etc) experience has shown me u really need a shitload to kill a cactus this is an interesting topic.would be good to get a definitive 'cactus' scale life cycle. will look into. u dont see the particular variety of scale on to many other plants i have noticed. its a bastid, especially in monstrose and crestate plants where they git into the nooks and crannies. know people who use white oil with great success, seems its not as poisonous to cacti that i had always thought. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PD. Posted November 2, 2008 lol, i thought it was only the male scale insect that can move around or fly and yeh, they dont really like the sun much ime. yeh white oil is shitty imo, give it a scrub and more exposure, change its scenery for a while like GH suggested and they shood piss off. A few scale here and there never really do any harm, i alwyas scratch them off when i see them although i know there are still plenty in there somewhere. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
misteek Posted November 6, 2008 HOORAY FOR LADYBUGS!!!!!!!! i was walking around the garden before and found a ladybug and thought i'd see what'd happen if i put it on one of the infected cacti. it was a bit hesitant to hop on so i gave it a bit of a nudge with a twig and as soon as it was on it started charging around like mad!!!!!! i couldnt see what it was feeding on though! (at first i thought it might've been sucking out some cacti juices - but i dont think it would've moved to another spot if thats what it was doing) i came back 10 minutes later and it was feeding on another spot... so i'll have to catch some more ladybugs! and i've never seen one of those critters around pd. thanks everyone - i'll have to do some more detailed research on them soon! would be good to find a bit of info on their life cycle! if anyone finds something please post! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gilligan Posted November 6, 2008 (edited) dude, you wouldn't believe it... on catalyst tonight, they had a special on ladybirds - some dude in Aus is heading the ladybird taskforce, and has written the definitive guide to australian ladybirds... Ladybeetles Ladybeetles, also known as ladybirds or ladybugs, have always been surrounded by folklore and myth. But what do we really know about them? A stunning new website and book, put together by artists and scientists at the Australian National Insect Collection, shows us there's more to ladybeetles than nursery rhymes and spots. We delve into the secret life of the ladybeetle and find out what is happening in your backyard. Also showing on ABC2 - 5:35pm Friday, November 7 - 5:30pm Friday, November 21 Also showing on ABC - 1:30pm Tuesday, November 11 Catalyst Click the section on ladybirds... They reckon there are up to 500 species in aus, but only 280 have been identified... Take some snaps and see whether you have gotten your hands on a new species. Entomology at its best... lol also Ladybirds of australia Edited November 6, 2008 by gilligan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
misteek Posted November 6, 2008 shit thats crazy....... will defiantly have to watch it tomorrow! man that timing is crazy! 500 species!?!? i thought there was one! shows just how little i know about ladybirds . this is a good opportunity to learn some more about these bizare lil' things. i have seriously never seen something so small run so fast!!! thanks for that gilligan - much appreciated Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ENtiTY Posted November 6, 2008 There is also a parasitic wasp that attacks scale. If you see any scale with a lil hole in it you have them about. A combination of pyrethrin insecticide and the toothbrush approach are pretty effective. The adult scale is pretty much buggered once you knock it off, its the baby crawlers you want to get to with the spray to thwart re-infestation. Pyrethrin has a withholding period of only a day which is good. The biological approach is usually the most effective. Once established it is a long term solution as pest and predator reach an equalibrium, pest won't be erradicated but it won't be able to reach a population level where it can do serious damage. Plus no poisons involved Think control, not complete erradication, the later will never happen no matter how deadly or how much poison you dump on your plants. They'll keep coming back as soon as they build up a tolerance or the poison runs its course. Although using poisons seems like the easy route, to do it properly is a lot more effort and costly than chasing down some bugs for your bugs. Non toxic to boot Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fyzygy Posted October 17, 2022 (edited) On 06/11/2008 at 10:24 PM, gilligan said: Ladybeetles, also known as ladybirds or ladybugs, have always been surrounded by folklore and myth. But what do we really know about them? A stunning new website and book, put together by artists and scientists at the Australian National Insect Collection, shows us there's more to ladybeetles than nursery rhymes and spots. We delve into the secret life of the ladybeetle and find out what is happening in your backyard. Also showing on ABC2 - 5:35pm Friday, November 7 - 5:30pm Friday, November 21 Also showing on ABC - 1:30pm Tuesday, November 11 Catalyst Click the section on ladybirds... They reckon there are up to 500 species in aus, but only 280 have been identified... Take some snaps and see whether you have gotten your hands on a new species. Ladybug on Acacia phlebophylla phyllode. Still there an hour or so later, too, having relocated to a nearby phyllode. Not a lot of movement. Edited October 18, 2022 by fyzygy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
