These (in large numbers) are on all of my citrus trees in pots and coincided with the death of some of my smaller trees. There’s also a black sooty like substance covering most of the leaves and stems.
Sprayed and rubbed by hand last month what I could with dish detergent and vinegar mix followed by a rinse (no agricultural soaps available here).
They look like Mealybugs and Sooty Mold.bb
Scale. Spray with dormant oil and it will get rid of them.
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Looks like scale, comparing pictures. Are they also causing the sooty residue?
if I can’t find dormant oil available locally, is there some kind of alternative I can make from common ingredients?
Scale type insects secrete honeydew which becomes a breeding area for the Sooty Mold.
A mixture of dish soap and an oil like Soybean in water to smother them can help.bb
I have some canola oil, so mixed with dish detergent and warm water and sprayed. Not sure it will work.
I still see quite a few on my trees. Should I up the concentration of canola oil and dish detergent? Spray more? Is the oil harmless to the trees?
It looks like some of my trees have had the life sucked right out of them and they’re dead!
I usually make it with 2 to 1,oil/soap and then put a Tablespoon in about a quart of water.The oil shouldn’t harm the plants.Here is a web page with instructions for “White Oil”.White Oil Insecticide: What Is THIS Homemade Organic Pesticide?
Another,with some recipes from Cornell University.Homemade Lemon Tree Fungal & Pest Spray | Home Guides | SF Gate
Sucking,yeah,that’s what they do.Sounds like a real fight.The visible ones can be squished.bb
Thanks so much I gave it another shot.
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I think it worked, as they look a bit different now. I used a high canola oil mix.
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They will probably need to be checked often.Are they indoors or out?bb
Outdoors, the bugs kind of turned orange and blob like, probably dead.
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@anon47724557 @poncirusguy Have you seen this kind of insect on your citrus? I’ve found it on my potted satsuma mandarin the last two years. It likes to spin some kind of web on the top or bottom surface of a leaf and then presumably lay eggs and hang out underneath the web. They have wings but seem to be reluctant flyers - more inclined to scurry to the other side of the leaf when disturbed rather than fly away. There’s a lot of pollen in the air at the moment, and the pollen tends to be sprinkled over the surface of the leaves and their webs, so that’s visible in these pictures.
