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Can anyone identify this beastie?

NollieNollie Girona, Catalunya, Northen Spain.Posts: 6,538
in Problem solving


There were huge clumps of these so I originally thought it was woolly aphid but realise I was wrong. Serious infestation on an introduced tangerine tree and infected all my salvias last year - all infected plants removed and destroyed, or so I thought. Its now affecting my rosemary. Is it mealy bug? Any advice on getting rid of whatever it is?

Posts

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Billericay, EssexPosts: 9,861
    edited April 2018
    Could it be some sort of scale insect?

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • NollieNollie Girona, Catalunya, Northen Spain.Posts: 6,538
    Oh, thank you Pete8, that’s exactly what it is - cottony cushion scale - see below. New to me but very persistent little blighters. Advice is to scrub them off with a toothbrush and spray constantly with insecticidal soap or oil, but on densely packed rosmary plants this will prove tricky, I think. I fought them valiantly with similar methods last year and lost. Such a shame to lose yet more plants, but probably should gird my loins and get rid of all the infected rosemary and culinary sage (cheap as chips to replace, here) before it infects all the new perennial sages and other plants that are just about to go out. I also had to cut down to the ground a nearby infected rose, which is now recovering nicely. Seems a bit drastic but I have spent a fortune in buying and growing on the new plants, which would be a far greater financial loss.





  • Pete.8Pete.8 Billericay, EssexPosts: 9,861
    Such a shame Nollie.
    I had a bad infestation on a big acer a couple of years ago. I used Vitax Winter Tree Wash (a completely organic product) and I've not seen them since.
    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • NollieNollie Girona, Catalunya, Northen Spain.Posts: 6,538
    I know, it’s really heartbreaking to destroy plants. I will look out for that product, Pete8, thanks. Perhaps that was my mistake, no preventative treatment over winter, plus when they are gone, I will treat everything with a regular organic spray just in case. Of course it would have helped to know what I was dealing with in the first place, but I didn’t realise ‘scale’ was the magic search term, not white and woolly!
  • FireFire North LondonPosts: 17,116
    They look like they are made of mashed potato
  • NollieNollie Girona, Catalunya, Northen Spain.Posts: 6,538
    Don’t think I will be serving them with my sausages anytime soon tho - they smell disgusting too.
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