How to Manage Pests

Pest identification and confirmation—Mealybugs

Woolly aphids, adelgids, whiteflies, and cottony cushion scales may sometimes be confused with mealybugs because they also produce a whitish, waxy material. The white, fluted egg sac of cottony cushion scales erupts from the female's body, which is usually bright orange, red, yellow, or brownish. Underneath the loose, cottony, waxy covering, the bodies of most aphids and adelgids appear pear shaped. Some of the aphids or adelgids in a colony may have wings, but only male mealybugs and scales have wings and males are rarely seen. Male mealybugs are tiny and delicate; the body is commonly yellow or red with two long whitish tail filaments.