|
| I'm glad I happened to be out back letting my little dog out. I happened to shine my flashlight on my lemon tree and saw some white dots. They were not there this morning. A google search led me to find out they are not our friends.
The ants seemes to like them but they are gone and I will keep an eye out for more.
|
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| Ants like their honey dew. Vedalia beetles do a really good job of cleaning them up and you don't even have to do anything. They'll just show up. It's a real biological control success story. |
|
| I disagree with you don't have to do anything. Tha looks like a whopper of a population! You can help the beneficials if you decrease the population to a reasonable size by squishing as many as you see. Jean |
|
| Well sure, squishing could help. But when I think "whopper" I think of a number slightly larger than 4. (and yes I'm aware of the crawlers but I've seen Vedalia beetles handily clean up much worse without any help here in socal) |
|
| Are you referring to the 4 adult females that you can see in the image? And are you thinking that those are the only 4 insects to be found on home grower's plant? That picture appears to represent about an inch of stem. 4 adult females per linear inch is a whopper of an infestation, in my book. |
|
| If there is a bigger population I will stand corrected but in my experience you'll usually find a tiny clutch of them at first; maybe 2 to 8. Then they will spread up and down from that spot. Usually before the population hits 30 or so the beetles move in and clean them up. I'm guessing that's what's going on here because the OP didn't see any earlier in the day. Those 4 were probably there, but they're easy to miss when they are present in small numbers. Again, I can't guarantee that's what's happening but If I was a betting man, that's where I'd put my money. |
|
| OP said those white dots weren't there this morning. I suggest OP just didn't see them. Also only 4 in the small image we see. What about the rest of the plant? Further, when they're crowding such as in the image, likely it's a portion of a larger population. Also, the smudges of white are likely remnants of those now gone. I suggest the OP take a close look at the entire plant then report back. But I still say, squish what you see! |
|
- Posted by home_grower SoCal Z9 S18 (My Page) on Sat, Aug 29, 09 at 2:39
| I had about 30 of them on the 6' tall Eueka lemon tree. after I posted and found out they were suckers I p[ut on a pair of work gloves and went on a squish fest. I checked the entire tree twice since then and have not seen any more on the lemon or the orange tree close to it. They definately were not on the tree that morning. I had inspected it pretty well since it has a lot of sudden new growth after fertilizing it. They are such a contrast in color to the small tree I know I would have seen them if they were on the tree earlier. I also searched here once I knew the name of the bug and found out more about it. Thanks to this site I find a lot of things out I would not have known otherwise. Also thank you for your suggestions. Chris |
|
- Posted by home_grower SoCal Z9 S18 (My Page) on Mon, Oct 12, 09 at 4:32
| Just an update: It's been over a month and I have not seen one more on my lemon tree. I must have gotten lucky and killed them off in time. Thanks, Chris |
|
| Further, when they're crowding such as in the image, likely it's a portion of a larger population. With most scale, that's what you could expect. Cottony cushion scale are a little bit different in the way they work. (trust me on this one) Also, the smudges of white are likely remnants of those now gone. |
|
- Posted by home_grower SoCal Z9 S18 (My Page) on Tue, Oct 13, 09 at 1:29
| Looks an awful lot to me that the "smudges" are actually deposits Oh yea, hard water deposits from the sprinklers. We have to have a water softener for the indoor water. Chris |
|
- Posted by home_grower SoCal Z9 S18 (My Page) on Thu, Oct 22, 09 at 4:42
| Dang I spoke too soon. I was out back checking out my trees and noticed a bunch of ants on one of my lemons. I looked around and had about two dozen more of the little ugly bugs in a group in one branch. They were much smaller than the first bunch. I also had one larger one I must have missed earlier. Maybe they were it's babies. Anyway I put on a garden glove and squished away. Chris |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Garden Clinic Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.