mealybug

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mealybug

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

mealybug common name for certain unarmored scale insects that exude a granular white secretion, giving them a mealy appearance. Many are common greenhouse and crop pests. Adult females are wingless, with oval, segmented bodies and well-developed legs. The females and young feed on various parts of plants with their sucking mouthparts. Adult males have no mouthparts and do not feed. In egg-laying species the female produces several hundred eggs in a mass covered with waxy threads. In other species the young are born alive. The most serious pests are mealybugs that feed on citrus; other species damage sugarcane, grapes, pineapple, coffee trees, ferns, and orchids. Mealybugs are classified in the phylum Arthropoda , class Insecta, order Homoptera, family Pseudococcidae.

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mealybug

A Dictionary of Zoology | 1999 | | © A Dictionary of Zoology 1999, originally published by Oxford University Press 1999. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

mealybug See COCCIDAE.

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MICHAEL ALLABY. "mealybug." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 26 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MICHAEL ALLABY. "mealybug." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (December 26, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-mealybug.html

MICHAEL ALLABY. "mealybug." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Retrieved December 26, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-mealybug.html

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Coccidae

A Dictionary of Zoology | 1999 | | © A Dictionary of Zoology 1999, originally published by Oxford University Press 1999. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Coccidae (scale insects, mealybugs; order Hemiptera, suborder Homoptera) Family of homopterans which feed on plant sap, and some species of which are pests. Females are wingless. Males have a single pair of wings and do not feed; usually they are very small. The newly hatched nymphs (crawlers) are the main dispersal stage, and are blown about by the wind. Most older nymphs and females are sedentary, except in the mealybugs and their relatives, in which some mobility is retained. There are about 4000 species occurring mainly in the tropics. The Coccidae belong to a group that is usually split into about 12 families (see also LACCIFERIDAE).

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MICHAEL ALLABY. "Coccidae." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Retrieved December 26, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-Coccidae.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article Mealybugs may have met their match: insect predators and parasites home in on this growing menace.
Magazine article from: Agricultural Research; 4/1/2005
Free Article Sex potion ensnares mealybugs.(pink hibiscus mealybug)
Magazine article from: Agricultural Research; 4/1/2005
Free Article Expression of feeding symptoms from pink hibiscus mealybug (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) by commercially important cultivars of hibiscus.(Report)
Magazine article from: Florida Entomologist; 6/1/2009

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HAU scientists find parasitoid to wipe out mealybug menace.
Newspaper article from: United News of India (UNI) (New Delhi, India); 5/2/2009; 700+ words ; ...parasitoid attack, the mealybugs become dead within...about 72 per cent of mealybug were parasitoid...could attack fresh mealybugs. Work on inoculative...parasitoid in areas where mealybug is a problem is...could attack fresh mealybugs. Work on inoculative...parasitoid in areas where ...
USDA: Mealybug Threatens Florida
Newspaper article from: U.S. Newswire; 8/1/2002; 602 words ; ...released today by the USDA: FEATURE - MEALYBUG THREATENS FLORIDA Intro: USDA is fighting...Bob Ellison reports. The pink hibiscus mealybug presents a serious and expensive threat...natural enemies of the pink hibiscus mealybug, parasitic wasps, to fight the threat...
MEALYBUGS AN INNOCENT-LOOKING MENACE.(House-Home)
Newspaper article from: Albany Times Union (Albany, NY); 2/27/2005; 700+ words ; ...really exist in the mealybug world; once hatched...larval stage, all mealybugs appear as flat...soon after, mom mealybug dies, beginning...four generations of mealybugs per year. If one...crawler stage. Mealybugs are classified as...juices. Signs of mealybug damage can be seen...
Views.(discussion of the vine mealybug in California and pest-management in the wine industry)(Editorial)
Magazine article from: Wines & Vines; 1/1/2003; ; 700+ words ; ...Since the vine mealybug is difficult to...differentiate from the other mealybugs on grapes, it would...is just a grape mealybug infestation...control agents of vine mealybugs are present in California, vine mealybug infestations are...
Mealybugs may have met their match: insect predators and parasites home in on this growing menace.
Magazine article from: Agricultural Research; 4/1/2005; ; 700+ words ; ...increase production of the mealybug's natural enemies...began by feeding the mealybugs an assortment of crops...development of parasitoids on mealybugs reared on the artificial...refinement to produce quality mealybugs in the large numbers...required for complete mealybug development and ...
Wasps Help Stave Off Starvation in Africa;Airlifted Insects Blunt Invasion of Crop-Ravaging Mealybugs
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 6/20/1988; ; 700+ words ; ...This particular species of mealybug, however, was new to entomologists...checking cassava plants for mealybugs," Herren said. "I will...it is very hard to find mealybugs in Latin America." The reason...is now clear, is that the mealybug's natural enemies are already...
Mealybug Might Threaten U.S. Crops
News Wire article from: AP Online; 7/11/1999; ; 700+ words ; ...Press Writer AP Online 07-11-1999 Mealybug Might Threaten U.S. Crops CHARLOTTE...discovered the hitchhiking pink hibiscus mealybug. It's a pest that has eaten its way...year in losses. ``What we find is the mealybug is moving and isn't detected in these...
An easy, no-pesticide mealybug massacre
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 8/4/2000; ; 542 words ; ...or greenhouses, mealybugs can be controlled...ladybug known as the mealybug destroyer, Cryptolaemus...montrouzieri. The mealybug destroyer feeds on all stages of the mealybug, and its own larvae...superficially resemble mealybugs enabling it to...
Invasion of Mealybugs Threatens Florida Crops.
Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News; 7/11/2002; 700+ words ; ...and California. The mealybug hit those spots before...natural enemy of the mealybugs -- the mealybug destroyer. That beetle...chemicals harm the mealybugs' natural enemies and...going to get it, [the mealybug] but when we are going...
Parasitic wasps could curb mealybug.
M2 Presswire; 8/17/2001; 678 words ; ...wasp. Dubbed the "mealybug destroyers," the tiny females sting the mealybugs and lay an egg inside...the war against papaya mealybugs. Already, APHIS found...percent reduction in mealybugs near the research sites...other than the papaya mealybug. ARS is the U.S...
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