Insect identification > Homoptera > Mealybugs > Citrus mealybug

Citrus mealybug

The citrus mealybug (Pseudococcus citri Risso). - This insect attacks many plants and is a serious pest on citrus plants, feeding on the stems, leaves and fruit, gathering in large clusters on the last.

It produces a large amount of honeydew, on which the sooty fungus already referred to grows. The adult females, pale yellow in color and well covered by a thick waxy secretion, are one-fourth of an inch long.

The 300 to 400 eggs are laid in loose, white cotton-like masses, chiefly during fall and winter, and young and adults move about freely, the former becoming adult in from 6 to 10 weeks.

A number of natural enemies are of some value against this insect.