If something is
described as "mealy", it usually means that it is
soft and mushy...well, that describes mealybugs.
They are soft-bodied relatives of
scale insects that
get their name from the white or gray threads of
waxy material that covers their bodies. In heavy
infestations, the plant may look as if it is covered
with cotton.
Mealybugs are sucking
insects that make their living draining the sap from
plants similar to
aphids,
scale and
spider mites. Their
feeding can result in leaf distortion, yellowing due
to loss of
chlorophyll, stunting, formation of galls
and, in extremes, the death of twigs, stems or the
whole plant.
The larvae, called
crawlers, move around a plant looking for a place
where they may feed. Unlike scale, the mature
females can move around a little on the plant. Adult
males develop wings and look like tiny flies. They
do not feed and die after mating with the female.
