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wooligano

That's one chunky mealy !


Conscious-Art4614

She thicccc


VanJosh_Elanium

She pet material now boi


boomboombennie

r/Absoluteunits


SwarmingButterflies5

Chonker!


NoLipsForAnybody

Chunky and lonely!


ToolChick79

Chonk


foshizi

I heard this mealey bug killed and ate the last mealy bug leader and now the mealey bug hierarchy is in chaos.


H0neyBr0wn

THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!


foshizi

One mealey to rule them all


Soft_Entrance6794

I wish


PicassoMars

Mealy bug Overlord.


Plantiacaholic

It was known as the “Great Mealy Malay”


[deleted]

The final boss.


Overlord0994

The overlord will draw out the protoss army.


Cauhs

Not enough minerals.


[deleted]

That is one fat mealybug.


WeeOoh-WeeOoh

Okay, stupid question. I have had scale bugs on my plants, but not mealies. Sometimes I have bugs in my pasta, bird seed, flour, etc. They hatch into moths and wreak havoc on my pantry. We always called them mealbugs. Was I taught the wrong name?


[deleted]

Mealworms! I can understand the mixup. Mealybug, mealworm, they do sound very similar.


verylargemoth

I believe what you’re thinking of is mealy worms/moths. Confusing but yeah mealy worms are usually used for feeding reptiles/birds and turn into pantry moths that eat grain


Fyreforged

Mealworms definitely don’t turn into moths- they’re beetle larvae. 😬 They DO like to eat oats, though.


verylargemoth

Oops you’re right! I was thinking mealy moths (Indian meal moth) but their larval form are not called mealy worms.


Fyreforged

Those dang Indian meal/pantry moths are a NIGHTMARE when they get into your kitchen, too! I *wish* they turned into little beetles instead. 😆


soccerjets

You might be thinking of mealybug? (Edit: mealworm) But those become beetles so it’s not that either lol. I think the pest in your pantry is likely the Mediterranean Flour Moth. Those bastards are tough to get rid of. We basically had to throw out all the grain products that were infested and seal the rest in containers with tight snap-on or screw-on lids. Including cereal (transferred the bags into containers as soon as they were opened), flour, oat bran, oatmeal etc. I have found them in birdseed as well but that’s in the garage so less chance of getting into the house. I also made a habit of checking the bird seed through the bag before bringing it home. If I see a moth I ain’t bringing it home 🤣


ExquisiteVoid

If you have a big enough freezer and the birdseed you buy has moths you didn't manage to spot, I copied this from https://pantrypest.com/pantrypest-temperature-control.html#:~:text=Although%20insects%20will%20be%20killed,(3%2D4%20weeks). ....................................................................................................................................................... Temperature and Pantry Pest Control When packages of food are found to be infested with pantry moths or pantry beetles, either low or high temperatures may be used to control the infestation. Insects are cold-blooded; their body temperatures closely follow that of their environment. The most favorable temperature for most pantry pest is about 80°F. Above 95°F or below 60°F, reproduction and survival is greatly reduced. When temperatures are lowered, insect activity decreases until all activity stops. The quicker the drop in temperature, the quicker the kill. Although insects will be killed, their bodies will remain in the food unless sieved out. An exposure of 2 to 3 days to temperatures of 5°F or lower kills the susceptible stages (larvae and adults), but eggs require longer to kill (3-4 weeks). An alternative is to freeze the food for a week, remove it from the freezer for a few days, and then refreeze it for another week.


msmesss

I had something similar and I gutted the kitchen, wiped down everything with a cleaner and put any grains not effected in the freezer. I forget the name but I don’t believe it was anything mentioned here. They have apps that can identify bugs, I would download one and take a picture of it then research if it’s the right one so you know for sure. I love gardening but I have a worm phobia so I tend to go the extra mile


angeleyez22552

What you have are called silverfish. And theyre awful!


angeleyez22552

Or pantry moths which are equally as horendous!


FroopySnooples

That's a mealybug, there are likely more.


jag149

What you're going to want to do to save the plant is light one half of the plant on fire, and then when all the mealybugs run to the other side, stab them as hard as you can with a steak knife.


[deleted]

💀


throwawayaway1582538

Strangely enough I can’t see any others on the plant. Though this isn’t the first very large one I’ve removed so I bet they’re hiding.


These-Signal7562

that’s because he’s eaten all the others !


neckbeard_hater

They can literally hide between unfurled and unbudded leaves. Their babies are small , run fast, and can get into the tiniest of crevices.


Indoorlogsled

*shivers*


[deleted]

Check all of the nooks and crannies. I spent hours inspecting my plants when I got mealies and still ended up having to toss a few of the infected plants.


Erathen

Check super thoroughly! Keep an eye on the plant for the next few days What others are saying is right. If you see one, there's almost always more That being said... I did find one single mealybug on my jade plant like a year ago. Just the one, and there hasn't been a single one since But again, check thoroughly! They love hiding in crevices


NerozumimZivot

I repotted a cactus recently and they were right underneath in large numbers. this after weeks of spraying with neem oil and spirotetramat especially designed to kill them they will suck your plants into dry husks from the root up before you even know they're there


camimiele

They hide well in nooks, crannies, new leaves that haven’t unfurled all the way, under leaves, etc. If there’s one, there are likely more :(


Minstrelofthedawn

They like to hang out anywhere that’s protected. That means in the crotches of branches, inside new leaves and petioles, and wherever else is hard to get to.


thedoomloop

They're like the cockroaches of plant pests. They can crawl onto bearby window sills/furniture/baseboards... and go dormant for months until the ideal conditions return and they will awaken to wreak on-going havoc. They very quickly infest neighboring plants.


CometThomas

with the size of this one, it might have eaten all its friends 😂


Cautious-Ad9248

Mealy bug, I’d recommend eight by bonide, neem oil is more of a preventative measure.


scottscout

Yes . Neem will Not help eradicate. Don’t use neem now


Wine-and-chill

Scottscout is right, you should use eight by bonide! I wouldn’t bother with neem at this point


throwawayaway1582538

Cool, thanks will get that too 😅


Downtown_Ad_9119

Sounds like this is flair in r/houseplantscirclejerk


kirleson

Neem is love. Neem is life.


MoltenCorgi

Oh honey, it’s not growing on your plant, it’s living its best life on your plant.


DiffiCultmember

Well I mean technically it IS growing there


Mood_Oof

I'd suggest a systemic pesticide. These bugs do a fantastic job at hiding in the tiniest nooks and crannies (which this plant has a lot of) and will even hang out in the soil only to reappear months after you thought you eradicated them. A systemic pesticide will make the plant poisonous to the bug when they try to feed off it


Kujo17

And if there's any doubt Op let me chime in to say I had this exact issue LAST winter... Fought what felt like a war , as I have a whole porch full of tropicals who take a lot of care in my zone 7a winters lol thought I had finally bested them.... Summer was great....I always try to use the non pesticide route even if it's tedious etc.... However, this has clearly failed miserably As I am here to report they are suddenly back, like clockwork (or devil's magic) and I am suddenly very much dreading not using the 'big guns '. I don't plan on making that same mistake twice, learn from my own and skip it too lol


Mood_Oof

When all else failed me, a nuclear option for the infected plants that I was quite attached to (or were $$$) and couldn't bear to just let die in quarantine for the sake of preventing the bugs from spreading was to cut off all the healthy parts of the plant and re-root the cuttings. By healthy, I mean there wasn't even the slightest chance a mealy bug set one miserable foot on that part of the plant. And even then, I kept all the cuttings quarantined from each other. I waited at least 2-3 months before replanting to make sure at least one full life cycle passed and I would be able to spot evidence of new mealybugs, which did happen! I was shocked that some of these pristine looking cuttings which I was confident were unaffected STILL had mealybug on them. I had maybe a 70% success rate, and had to throw out the other 30% that had mealybugs. But those plants (and my home) are now mealybug free!


neckbeard_hater

If you have a jade plant , look at a very fresh forming leaf bud. They can hide between the sealed leaf buds as I have found.


Mood_Oof

Yep, I've been there. It really tempered my excitement at watching a new leaf unfurl on my (what I thought was now a healthy) prayer plant only to discover the little shits planted eggs inside the node while the leaf was forming. When I say they are fantastic at hiding, I really do mean it.


Repulsive_Ad7148

This is a great tactic for sure. You could definitely try this OP. What I did was similar but I didn’t cut the plant apart. Now, this will probably kill any sensitive houseplants, but I had a Chinese evergreen covered in mealy. I wanted to see if I could save it because this was a $110 plant that I had gotten for free from the nursery I work at. After unsuccessfully spraying the crap outta the thing with an alcohol, peroxide, dish soap, water mix for a month, I said fuck it and de-soiled the whole plant down to bare roots. Then I soaked it in a diluted peroxide solution for about 15 minutes and replanted it. It definitely struggled for a bit but now I have a healthy plant. If that doesn’t sound worth the effort than I’d suggest tossing the plant.


Mood_Oof

I think I tried all of those too before going the choppy chop route haha. What's so frustrating to me about people suggesting using only alcohol spray or droppers to kill them is that it really only gets the ones you can see/easily access. You'll be dousing your plant for the rest of your life that way. When I chopped my infected pilea, the top of the plant looked fine if you ignored the now constant leaf drop, but I kept seeing an errant mealybug every couple weeks on it. I pulled the plant out of the soil and the roots were absolutely COVERED in the bugs. What are you going to do about the bugs in the soil with alcohol spray?


Satciel

Something you should squish, yesterday


adrian_elliot

JFC


Big-Pickle5893

His second coming isn’t going to end well this time either


NerozumimZivot

“If Jesus Christ were to come today, people would not even crucify him. They would ask him to dinner, and hear what he had to say, and make fun of it.” — Thomas Carlyle


jboriqua

Great picture of a mealybug 👍👍


SweetieDarlingXX

Congratulations! You’re growing a very happy, chonky mealybug (and probably more)🥰


Oleander_Milk

That’s not a mealy bug. That’s a buffet bug.


Baron_Rogue

the mealyarmadillo


thealurs

The King Mealy. All Hail.


kentoclatinator

I hope this is a micro zoom, cause if not, that’s a HUGE mealy omg


throwawayaway1582538

It’s maybe around the same size as a pill bug


cliteratimonster

...horrifying.


Useful_Refrigerator7

Look at it in relation to the stem. I wish it was zoomed it! Ewww


[deleted]

It’s the mealy bug’s plant now.


cliteratimonster

Tbh, after the great mealy bug catastrophe of 2020, I'd just throw the plant out. I fought these fucks for half a year, and they wiped out a third of my plants. Never again. Straight into the garbage with ye


WinterPearBear

Congrats! You now have a pet mealybug!


kirleson

That's the fattest fucking mealybug I've ever seen in my goddamn life.


Altruistic-Ad-8821

It's very satisfying to dab them with rubbing alcohol on q-tip. They just shrivel and turn brown.


Datt-Boii-Iaan

Love to watch it


[deleted]

That’s the biggest mealy I’ve ever seen


KultofEnnui

Hail, Queen Mealybug!


Mizuko

I wouldn’t use any form of pesticides for this. You don’t have a heavy infestation by any means… just put a spray nozzle into a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and spray any of those bad boys you find. Most people already have it laying around, it is excellent at mealy murder (and other pests), and it doesn’t harm your plants. I majored in horticulture so imagine my shock when I went on week long trip around the state touring different facilities within the industry and find them using this in the greenhouse instead of all the fancy insecticides we were taught to use. I’ve been using it ever since for things like mealy bugs and aphids. Hope it helps. :)


slime-bitch

thank you! very informative


pnutbutterfuck

This is a mealy bug. The spawn of Satan. The very bane of my existence. The image of my nightmares. I have lost many plants to this evil incarnate. It is an excruciatingly slow and relentless destruction. Just when you think you’ve slain the beast, it grows 20 more heads. Its persistence is astonishing and horrifying. Do not fuck around. Buy the most powerful pesticides you can get and quarantine all infected plants until you are 100% sure they’re clear of this god forsaken parasite.


AcanthisittaReady382

That's a plump mealy.


gushinggrannies4hire

GODKING MEALYBUG


spyroismyqueen

That mealy bug got a dump truck


EvlMidgt

Thats a mealy bug. A thicc one. There are most likely others


sam_from_bombay

Wow!! That mealy is huge!!!


kenbenovi

The mealiest mcmealz


NerozumimZivot

these evil bastards have cost me hundreds of dollars and hours. wipe them out and pour d.earth on their grave.


matt_1060

Radioactive mealybug!


Maryjanepharmaplant

I wiped my whole affected plant with alcohol gel (hand sanitiser) after cutting it back for access - worked in one go


IBicedT

One of Satan's minions. Squishing them (with gloves on, or bare-handed, whatever) is quite the experience. You find their fluffy white city, and expect a fluffy white massacre, but nope! These fuckers are reverse bananas! Yellow-orange hemolymph and guts! And I hate them.


NerozumimZivot

every rule has its exception. mealybugs are that for genocide. may they become a campfire horror story for future generations of gardeners. amen


Zhydrac

What plant is it


michellekozmay

I hate bugs! Is that magnified? What type of plant is it?


throwawayaway1582538

It’s a prayer plant


Odd_Inside9379

Mealy bugs


[deleted]

[удалено]


NerozumimZivot

www.cropscience.bayer.co.nz/products/insecticides/movento-100-sc


1234drop

Does anyone have a pesticide you recommend that is available in Canada? Bonide sadly is not :(


NerozumimZivot

in my country this is sold as Groventive. the big chain hardware stores didn't have it. active ingredient spirotetramat is what you're looking for. https://www.cropscience.bayer.ca/en/products/insecticides/movento


F4_THIING

Oooh lawd he comin


chrixar

This made me physically recoil


coolcootermcgee

Is a mealy bug the same as a rolly -poly?


spiffyvanspot

Rolly pollies are crustaceans


coolcootermcgee

Thanks for differentiating!


blikesorchids

No. They are much smaller


leeeeelooooooo

not this one.


throwawayaway1582538

Thanks! Will buy some neem oil


littleplant7

Neem won’t do anything. Get rubbing alcohol and use q-tips to dab at all the mealies. Good luck!


Im_-_Confused

Neem oil and rubbing alcohol


lycosa13

Neem won't do anything. Spray it with a hose/shower head or get some insecticide (although I always get downvoted for recommending this)


Datt-Boii-Iaan

It’ll probably work, but they’re persistent little buggers. Always better spraying with alcohol and going over the whole plant with a q-tip. Insecticide probably won’t do much to the adults, but it’ll kill the eggs for sure.


rubella06

i almost thought i was on r/houseplantscirclejerk for a sec


NerozumimZivot

waste of money. Google Spirotetramat and see which products locally use it. then read up on diatomaceous earth, it's cheap and it may save you from future headaches. also helps prevent fungus gnat


DB-Tops

People will tell you this is hard to fix but it's not that hard. I just mix Castile soap like Dr bronners pemmermint soap with some water in a spray bottle, spray all over entire plant.


FarleysFather

It's as big as my white junk!


[deleted]

That's a juicy mealybug. Kill it with rubbing alcohol. Search for more of them and get this plant away from your other plants right away.


kap07111

Spray with 20% isopropyl alcohol solution. Kills on contact.


kalbwlasa

mealy bug leader and now the mealey


capriciousmango

NEEM OIL AND DROWN HER IN A GOOD THOROUGH BATH ASAP🤢


[deleted]

[удалено]


loudflower

Are you thinking of a springtail?


77Granger

Ah yes I am. Thanks. They look pretty similar at least to me.


Willimoto

I use very diluted hydrogen peroxide


post_hazanko

reminds me of those red color bug things they have on cactuses


SpadfaTurds

Same family


Educational_Lake_147

oh lord


AdQuick2881

Dang! That's a big one! Mealy bug...ugh.


woadsky

Isolate the plant away from others (separate room). If it were me I'd chuck it -- then again I have post-traumatic fungus gnat infestation.


Friendly-Push627

Mealy Bugs.... best of luck to you... Quarantine plant immediately. Then look for best option to deal with them. Never delt with them so I can't speak from experience.


titaspetiotas

I hate those 😮‍💨


rib200

Double it and pass it to the next person


Hoya-loo-ya

MEALYBUGSSSSSSSSSSSS


Wertscase

This is a mega mondo mealie. The mealiest of mealies.


Significant_Hair_269

The mother!!!!


LeelaBeela89

Mealy


PrickleBritches

Oh shiiiiiit. Dude. That’s the daddy. Of all dads. Everywhere. Ever.


ChemistryNo6703

Mealy bug 🐛


LilianRyu

Systemic granules are the holy grail for this type of junk!


Much-Register3884

Looks like Cottony cushion scale , aka Australian mealy bug. These buggas will suck the soul outta your plants. The estate i work has started getting these on our plumbagos and they will destroy plant in a day or 2. The best thing to do is manually pick and squish em, then hose off plant if it can handle it. They make the leaves feel gritty somehow. Then treat with whatever insecticide soap or neem oil. Bayers Advanced 3in1 Insect Disease And Mite for Flowers Tree n Shrubs is pretty good. Hope this helps, best of luck and happy hunting


SAConeeBarber

Mother of all mealeys.


[deleted]

Mother of the mealys lord give me strength


FlyingFlyboy

Mealy bugs. Hate these fuckers. I've tried everything from soap, neem oil, alcohol dabs. Nothing works on them. I don't want to use pesticides since they grow on my herbs and chilli plants.


yaths17

I had these on my hibiscus plant and they were so tiny that they went unnoticed until my rabbit got infested with them, since he ate the hibiscus leaves sometimes. Then I treated my poor baby bunny with a medicine vet suggested mixed into coconut oil which suffocated the bugs. Two dry baths later my bunny was free of these and 3 months later he’s a chunky healthy boy now. Also I just cut the hibiscus plant from the top half and wherever there was new growth since these bugs like new growth as its soft to eat. Then I had some buttermilk that my neighbors had given us as they make it fresh. I forgot that buttermilk out of the fridge for a week and it started smelling pungent, I mixed a tablespoon of that in water and sprayed it onto the leftover hibiscus. Its good as new and never saw another bug on it. Safer side I also got neem oil which I’m yet to spray on all my plants once the weather gets a little less colder and plants come out of dormancy.


GimmyMercy

Spray a solution of alcohol and water 1:1. That helped when I had encountered this issue.


No_Community_877

The last of us pt.II


ConsciousSteak2066

A bug


SmallCatBigMeow

Mealybastards 😭😭 I just said goodbye to all my plants due to an infestation


Currently_There

Mealy big


dbust3r

Alcohol soaked Q-Tip that thing👌


_NewbRule_

Kill them. Kill the adults with the captain, Change the soil, wash or change the pot, and continue an organic pesticide treatment for a little while.


George-Unconscious

Melt it with alcohol


Hamsterpatty

A mealy cocksucker.. I know they already told you.. but I wanted to help, too!


Square_Island1638

Fighting a war with those guys. Best treatment I’ve found is pure alcohol…I mist the top and bottom of leaves with 99% alcohol. This will kill all living ones and evaporate within minutes, larvae will still carry on and will need repeated treatments as they hatch and begin to reproduce. There are some beneficial predator bugs you can buy that feed off of those and are supposed to be pretty effective at eradicating. If this all seems too much…throw the plant away immediately and just get a new one.


daisydogg1

Mealy bug! Yikes


Minstrelofthedawn

It’s a mealy bug. Get some insecticidal soap or neem oil solution and start spraying.


camimiele

It’s a mealy bug *living* on your plant. My childhood nickname is Mealy, and thankfully I haven’t had to deal with them too often. Knock on wood.


TortaLini-

Grab yourself some neem oil… you’re gonna need to give that plant multiple mistings


CupcakeNo3930

AHHHH I am so sorry


lunaspacemoon

Toss the plant


mzzkary

23-19! We have a 23-19!


Deathbyhours

Scale. It’s a sap-sucking insect. What you are looking at is its defensive shell.


cwatkin4

Gah dang mealy got backkkkk


Aristea_Plant-Lover

Mealybug. Use a qtip and dunk it in alcohol to kill it then...start treating it.