Mealybug Host Plants
Overview
Mealybugs attack a wide range of ornamental, fruit and protected crops.
They are especially difficult in plants with:
- dense foliage
- sheltered stem junctions
- woody growth
- overlapping leaves
- fruit clusters
- long production cycles
Host plants currently linked in Biopredator
Fruit crops
Ornamental crops
These plant records also show the other pests commonly associated with each crop.
High-risk crop types
Mealybug risk is often greatest in:
- tropical ornamentals
- foliage plants
- poinsettia
- citrus
- vines
- succulents
- long-season pot plants
- stock plants
- mother plants
Why long-season crops are vulnerable
Long-season crops give mealybugs time to:
- establish in hidden plant areas
- produce multiple generations
- spread through crawler movement
- build waxy colonies
- escape occasional treatments
- contaminate surrounding plants
Infestations may persist from one crop cycle to the next.
Imported and incoming plants
Incoming plant material is a major risk route.
Inspect:
- stem bases
- leaf axils
- pot rims
- support stakes
- plant labels
- packaging
- drainage holes
- root systems where root mealybug is suspected
Suspect plants should be isolated before entering the main crop.
Symptoms by crop type
| Crop | Typical warning signs |
|---|---|
| Citrus | Colonies around fruit, stems and leaf joints |
| Grapevine | Hidden colonies beneath bark and around fruit clusters |
| Fig | Honeydew, sooty mould and sheltered stem colonies |
| Poinsettia | Colonies in dense canopy and stem junctions |
| Ornamentals | Cosmetic contamination and reduced vigour |
| Pot plants | Persistent colonies and root-zone reservoirs |
Plant inspection strategy
Prioritise:
- newly delivered plants
- stock plants
- crop edges
- warm sheltered bays
- plants with honeydew
- plants attended by ants
- dense or difficult-to-spray canopies
- plants with previous infestation history
Reducing host-plant risk
Useful actions include:
- quarantining incoming stock
- removing heavily infested plants
- pruning inaccessible hotspots
- cleaning benches and supports
- controlling ants
- avoiding movement of contaminated tools
- maintaining biological-control continuity
- checking root zones where symptoms remain unexplained