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Icerya purchasi
Under a rain of pink flowers from a Tabebuia Tree was a small Opuntia Cactus with the worst infestation of Cottony Cushion Scale I've ever seen. There were nymphs of all sizes everywhere and masses of long silk tubes which females produce for their hundreds of eggs. All stages are mobile, although females tend to stay put within their collection of egg tubes. They all produce copious amounts of silk under which they can hide to feed. The first picture shows the silk egg tubes and a close inspection of the other pictures show all sizes of nymphs. Family of Giant Scale Monophlebidae.
Cleared field along the highway. Kilometro 10, Carretera Veracruz-Cordoba after the junction from Minatitlán.
This is an especially severe pest of Citrus and Veracruz is a major producer of oranges in Mexico.
Spotted on Apr 13, 2015
Submitted on Jul 18, 2015
2 Comments
Ha ha ha Mark! An impressive Aussi revenge!
Aus revenge for introduced Opuntia going out of control here. Both situations sad really. Let us know if you want some ladybugs.